Islamist militants carried out separate attacks on a passenger ferry and a military camp in northern Mali on Thursday, the government said, killing dozens of civilians and soldiers in a region of the West African country. which is more controlled by armed groups.
At least 49 civilians and 15 soldiers were killed in the attacks, and the army killed about 50 attackers, the government said in a statement.
The attacks were carried out by an Al Qaeda affiliate, according to the Malian government. They come as Islamist groups tighten their grip on northern Mali, including imposing a blockade on Timbuktu, a fabled 15th- and 16th-century stronghold of Islamic influence. registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
At least 33,000 people have gone missing since the blockade began in mid-August, according to the United Nations.
The attack on the river boat took place on Thursday morning, while the boat was traveling on the River Niger. On Friday, attackers killed three people on another boat in the same river, heading to Timbuktu.
Later on Thursday, the attackers carried out the second attack of the day, on a military camp in the neighboring region of Gao.
The Malian government declared three days of national mourning following the deadly attacks.
Security in northern Mali has been in tatters since last year, after the country’s military rulers expelled a French military mission. In June, they suddenly ordered the United Nations peacekeeping operation of 13,000 personnel to leave the country by the end of the year.
The UN mission evacuated two military camps in the Timbuktu region last month, and the rebels imposed several blockades soon after.
Analysts have drawn comparisons between the continuing worsening security situation in northern Mali and a 2012 conflict that ultimately led to an Islamist group taking control of Timbuktu for months and imposing Shariah law. there.
Mali’s junta is allied with the private Russian paramilitary group Wagner, which has an estimated 1,500 fighters on the ground in the country. Civilian deaths have risen since the group began conducting operations alongside the Malian military in early 2022, according to news reports, UN experts and human rights organizations.
Wagner was once led by Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, who in June staged a short-lived mutiny in Russia, put it down abruptly and then died last month in a plane crash, caused by what Western officials believed to be a blast ride.
A delegation of Russian defense officials traveled to Mali last week and met with the country’s military leaders, in what Western diplomats said could be an attempt by the Kremlin to regain control of some of the group’s activities. Wagner.
