Four Malian soldiers died in an explosive device explosion in Mopti
A vehicle of a unit of the Armed Forces of Mali (FAMa) on patrol in Djenné drove over an improvised explosive device. The incident, which took place on Thursday, May 12, 2022, at around 8:54 a.m., left four people dead and one wounded, according to a Malian army statement.
The FAMa offer their condolences to the comrades-in-arms and families of the victims and wish a speedy recovery to the injured man, the army said in a statement, as it continues “its offensives on all fronts to defeat these assailants who continue to plunge families into mourning on Malian soil.”
Casualties are mounting in the ranks of the Malian armed forces. On April 24, the army lost six soldiers in three simultaneous attacks by terrorist groups on military camps in central Mali.
These attacks were claimed by the Macina Katiba of Fulani preacher Amadou Koufa in an audio message. The Macina Katiba is subordinate to Iyad Ag Ghali, leader of the al-Qaeda-linked Support group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM) or Jnim.
On March 4, the Mondoro camp, near the border with Burkina Faso in central Mali, was targeted by jihadist groups. The Malian army lost 27 soldiers, in addition to 33 wounded, 21 of them seriously, and seven missing soldiers.
These attacks are multiplying as France and its allies announced their departure from Mali in February following heated diplomatic tensions with the transitional authorities.
Mali, a landlocked country in West Africa, has been trying to emerge from a political crisis since the coup carried out by the army on August 18, 2020 against President Ibrahima Boubacar Keïta, who died on January 16, 2022. The military, which blamed IBK’s regime for its inaction in the face of jihadist attacks, has been mired in a security turmoil since taking power.
The independence uprisings of 2012 have given way in recent years to jihadist attacks often attributed to groups such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.
CD/lb/abj/APA