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MALI-UNREST
12 Mali soldiers killed in raids on base
BAMAKO, Oct 13, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Twelve Malian soldiers were killed in
attacks on their base in the volatile centre of the country, the army said
Tuesday, in the latest violence to hit the West African state.
In a statement, Mali’s military said an army outpost in the central Mopti
region was attacked overnight, leaving nine soldiers dead and an unidentified
number of wounded.
Militants also attacked reinforcements sent to the base on Tuesday morning,
killing three soldiers and wounding 10, according to a provisional tally.
Mali has been struggling to contain a jihadist insurgency that first
emerged in the north of the country in 2012, and which has since spread to the
centre of the country and neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.
Thousands of soldiers and civilians have been killed in the fighting to
date, and hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes.
In Mali, the centre of the vast country has become the epicentre of the
violence, with jihadist attacks and ethnic violence commonplace.
Anger at the brutal conflict contributed to protests against president
Ibrahim Boubacar Keita this year, which culminated in his ouster in a military
coup on August 18.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1944 hrs