The army base, located in central Mopti, was attacked by jihadists on 10th September, military and local sources have told AFP.
The Al-Qaeda-backed Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) and its Tuareg separatist allies have been striking the country since late April to help weaken the rule of the country’s junta.
The attack occurred in Dioura military camp, where Mali’s armed forces said in a statement yesterday that they were guarding government troops.
There was some sparring around the military station, a major forward base for army operations in the area, Thursday morning.
“Moscow-backed Africa Corps paramilitaries who occupied our positions were fired upon this morning, but it is now under control with their help,” said an army officer based in Mopti.
People who spoke with AFP in the area said there was heavy fighting and chaos on the ground.
One resident told NBC News he heard gunshots early in the morning and then a few moments later noticed army pickup trucks driving out of the camp towards the outskirts of town.
“It is not completely calm” and “the attackers were inside the camp’ and a Malian aircraft was seen flying over the area” were other comments made by another resident.
The director of the military public relations service called the attacks “complex” but said that the army had “managed to destroy the enemy”.
No casualty figures were immediately available, and assessments were ongoing on the ground, said an army officer in Mopti to AFP.
JNIM immediately announced on its social media “total control of a Malian army barracks” in the town of Dioura via communique.
The Dioura military camp has been attacked several times in recent years by JNIM jihadists and the Tuareg-separatist Azawad Liberation Front (FLA).
Since 2012, Mali has suffered from an acute security problem, which has been driven, among other factors, by the activities of armed separatist groups, criminal gangs and groups of jihadists linked to Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State (IS) group.
It has turned away from its former colonial power, France and towards Russia, both militarily and politically, under its ruling junta that came to power in two successive coups in 2020 and 2021.
