Mali: 27 soldiers killed in jihadist attack on center

It was the deadliest attack on Mali forces in months.

The bomber struck shortly after 6:30 a.m. Friday (French time) at a Mondoro camp in central Mali, wounding 33 people, wounding 21 others and leaving seven soldiers “missing,” the same source said.

According to the military, 47 attackers were “neutralized” in the morning and 23 were “after attacking terrorist sanctuaries”.

The Malian armed forces promised in a statement that “the offensive will continue unabated, as will the search and destruction of terrorist sanctuaries.” Several sources in Mali pointed out that an attack on the AFP on Friday afternoon had killed several people in Montoro.

An unnamed French military source told AFP that 40 to 50 people had been killed in the attack, which was carried out by hundreds of jihadists.

Evidence suggests that 21 vehicles, including several armored vehicles, were seized by jihadists.

There is an area of ​​the Mondoro camp where Bergane was asked not to operate, probably because of Wagner’s mercenaries (a private Russian company).

Near the border with Burkina Faso, the camp has been the target of numerous jihadist attacks in the past and attempts to impose its grip on federal government representatives or foreign presence.

In September 2019 an operation against the camp and nearby Polkessi killed about fifty soldiers.