Battle for Mali base has killed dozens of militants, army says

The authorities in Mali say their soldiers killed dozens of militant Islamists as they repelled an attack on a military base on Sunday. Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), a jihadist group affiliated to al-Qaeda, said it was behind the assault where its fighters took control of the base in the town of San. The army, which also suffered casualties, disputed it had ceded control – but said its soldiers had to “retreat temporarily”.

It comes as Mali’s security situation appears to be deteriorating, more than a decade after a jihadist insurgency began taking root in the north of the country. “The enemy was eliminated and the attack was successfully repelled. Around 40 terrorists were eliminated,” Lt Col El Oumrani, the commander of the 23rd regiment in the San garrison, said in a video.

He urged residents to remain vigilant, insisting that his soldiers had “not gone anywhere” and the base remained under army control. “The camp of the 23rd is not empty, it is under the custody of the army.” The attack started at around 05:00 local time (GMT) on Sunday and lasted for about two hours, according to witnesses quoted by the French broadcaster RFI. The attackers came on motorcycles and on foot, some disguised in army uniforms to infiltrate the base, RFI reported the witnesses as saying. One said the militants entered the camp and held it “for a long time before leaving”.