More than 36 deaths in twin terrorist attacks in Mali

A double attack perpetrated by extremists in central Mali killed six soldiers and some thirty insurgents, the General Staff of the Army confirmed on Monday.

The attacks were perpetrated almost simultaneously in the towns of Mondoro and Boulkessi, near the border with Burkina Faso.

According to the latest military update, the terrorists attacked barracks of the armed forces in Mondoro and the G5-Sahel combined troops contigent in Boulkessi, which has forces from Mali, Niger, Mauritania, Burkina and Chad.

According to military and civilian sources, the attackers arrived in both towns in a motorbike caravan and started to shoot at both barracks in the middle of the night from Saturday to Sunday, killing six soldiers, all national, and injuring 18.

However, the first report issued by the Army on Sunday informed about the deaths of three soldiers and five extremists, and seven injured soldiers, which only amounts to eight casualties, but in the latest update those figures increased substantiatlly.

In addition, after repelling the double attack, Malian troops confiscated some 40 motorbikes, two vans and ‘important amounts of military material’ in the two attacked areas.

Several extremist groups of a distorted Islamic confession and close to major terrorist groups -with a subregional operational scope- and other independent ones, operate against the States of Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and Nigeria.

Source: PL English