After several days of fierce fighting around Anefis, in the Kidal region, the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) has admitted that it failed to achieve its objective of capturing the town.
The Malian army, for its part, maintains that it has retained control of this strategic position and continued its operations against armed groups.
Anefis is a strategic point located on the Gao-Kidal axis which witnessed a week of clashes with the Malian Armed Forces (FAMa), supported by their partner, Africa Corps and separatists.
In a statement released Friday morning, FLA spokesperson Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane acknowledged that his movement’s military objective was to seize Anéfis, but that this operation had not been successful during this phase of the fighting.
“Our military objective was to control Anefis, and this objective was not achieved during this phase of operations,” he stated, while asserting that his fighters had inflicted losses on Malian forces and their allies.
This acknowledgment comes as the Malian army claims to have regained the initiative around the town after the attacks on July 4 targeting several military positions in Anefis, Aguelhoc, Gao, Seware, and Kenieroba.
In a statement released on July 7, the General Staff of the Armed Forces indicated that coordinated air and ground operations by the Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) and their partners were continuing in the Anefis area.
It reported 35 airstrikes and more than 200 neutralised combatants, as well as the destruction of several armoured vehicles, pickup trucks, and motorcycles.
According to the army, operations conducted on July 6 resulted in the destruction of five armoured
vehicles, approximately 20 pickup trucks, and around one hundred motorcycles belonging to armed groups engaged in the fighting.
In its latest statement, the General Staff also confirmed that a large logistics convoy from Gao arrived in Anefis on the night of July 9, following air and ground operations designed to secure the route and access to the town.
Malian forces reported facing several ambushes and attacks, attributed to the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), the FLA, and their affiliates, who allegedly used suicide drones.
The provisional toll released by the army indicates 15 airstrikes in the Anefis, Tabrichat (Gao), and Koulebala (Seware) sectors, the destruction of 12 combat vehicles, and the neutralisation of nearly one hundred combatants in the past 24 hours.
Since the attacks of July 4, Anefis has been the focus of most of the military pressure in northern Mali.
The town represents a major strategic objective due to its location on the axis linking Gao to Kidal and its importance to Bamako’s security apparatus in the region.
While the Malian army claims to be maintaining pressure on armed groups and consolidating its positions, the FLA seeks to portray the clashes as a demonstration of its offensive capabilities. T
he two sides thus offer opposing accounts of how the situation has unfolded on the ground.
The battle for Anefis illustrates once again the importance of this area in the fight for control of northern Mali, where military operations are accompanied by an intense communication war
between the opposing forces.
MD/ac/fss/as/APA