AFRICA/MALI - After Burkina Faso, now also Mali: At least 15 soldiers die in a jihadist attack

Bamako (Agenzia Fides) - Jihadist groups are again attacking soldiers from the regular armed forces in the Sahel. After the most recent incident on August 18 in Burkina Faso (see Fides 19/8/2021) it is Mali's turn, where yesterday August 19, a military convoy was attacked near Boni in the center of the country fifteen soldiers were killed and several wounded.
According to an official statement, a car bomb exploded as the convoy passed, followed by heavy gunfire, according to which efforts are underway to evacuate the wounded. According to some sources, the jihadists also managed to steal some military vehicles armed with machine guns.
The attack occurred on the important road between Gao and Mopti. Especially in central Mali and in the three border regions between Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, there are repeated attacks and attacks with explosive devices.
On August 18, on the Burkinabe side of the border, at least 80 people, 65 of them civilians, died in a bomb attack.
The convoy that had left the city of Dori consisted of almost 80 vehicles. "He covered a distance of about 600 meters," said a source from the security forces. The convoy was escorted at the head and at the end by gendarmes. The attackers opened fire in Boukouma, in the middle of the convoy, about 20 kilometers from Arbinda to Gorgadji. "This made it very difficult for the gendarmes to react as they had to avoid shooting civilians", the source said. The jihadists were only pushed back after three hours of fighting.
In Burkina Faso, as in Mali, it is widely believed that jihadist groups are increasingly attacking the military in order to maintain their control of the area, particularly through strategic border crossings. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 20/8/2021)

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