At least 50 Malian soldiers killed in rebel-jihadist attack

At least 50 Malian soldiers were killed in an attack by Tuareg separatists and jihadists as they left the strategic northern town of Anefis, officials said on Sunday.

The attack on the army convoy leaving Anefis occurred on Saturday, following weeks of fighting with both sides attempting to take control.

In early July, fighters from the Tuareg separatist FLA and the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) briefly captured the town and encircled a military base used the Malian army and Russian paramilitaries from Africa Corps.

JNIM and the FLA claimed responsibility for the attack.

“The provisional toll of the attack is extremely heavy — more than 50 soldiers killed and at least 24 prisoners,” a local elected official, close to the ruling junta, told AFP.

The official, who asked to remain anonymous, said it was the deadliest attack suffered by the Malian army in years.

“Some of our men were simply executed,” said a source within the Malian army, adding that an investigation was underway to determine any tactical failures.

“We are trying to see what could really have made our men so vulnerable,” he said.

The Russian paramilitaries supporting the army had already arrived in Gao, their destination, when the attack happened and did not suffer any losses, sources told AFP.

“No Russians were killed. The dead are from the army and the state-backed militias,” said a community leader from the Gao region.

On Saturday, the army acknowledged the convoy had “fallen into an ambush laid by terrorist armed groups”, without providing casualty figures.

Mali has been ruled by a military government since back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021.

The junta has struggled to deliver on its promise to restore security after years of jihadist and separatist unrest.

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