BAMAKO: Tuareg allies hit Mali with fresh coordinated attacks, striking multiple towns and a prison just months after hobbling the country's military junta with a similar wave of assaults. The fighting, which started around 5:00 am, comes after the Al Qaeda-linked JNIM and Tuareg FLA separatists in late April captured the strategic northern town of Kidal and killed Mali's defence minister.
On Saturday, they carried out their latest offensive in the northern towns of Gao, Anefis and Aguelhok, plus the central town of Sevare and at a prison in Kenieroba near the west African nation's capital. The Malian army confirmed the rebel assaults on the four towns and Kenieroba on Saturday, asserting that "these attacks were vigorously repelled" and that "the situation is completely under control."
However, sources consulted by journalists indicated that fighting was still ongoing at midday.
The towns of Anefis and Aguelhok are the last remaining locations where Mali's army maintains a presence in the northern Kidal region, following the April attacks. In the northern town of Gao, a strategic town key to controlling the region, residents said they heard gunfire and "loud blasts" near an army camp. "For now, the objective appears to be seizing and securing the north before moving further south", an associate at the Strategic Research Institute of the International Academy for the Fight Against Terrorism said. In the central town of Sevare, which houses a large army base and an airport, "explosions rang out... around 5:00 am, though their origin is not yet known. Shortly thereafter, several aircraft were spotted flying over the area", a security source said. — AFP
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