Al Qaeda Affiliate Claims Responsibility As Mali Repels Attack In Capital

Al Qaeda affiliate Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM) on Tuesday claimed responsibility for the attack in Mali’s capital Bamako.

However, Mali said that its capital, Bamako, was under control after insurgents attacked a gendarmerie training school and other strategic areas before dawn, firing gunshots that reverberated around the city.

The attacks on several points in Bamako were a rare case of unrest reaching the capital after years of armed conflict in the hinterlands between government forces and Islamist rebels.

After the shooting subsided, the capital was tense, with vigilante groups of youth patrolling the streets.

Reuters saw the charred remains of one body. People nearby said it was a cigarette seller set on fire by youths because he was wearing a bullet belt, making them suspect he was an attacker.

Videos circulated online showing an armed insurgent setting the engine of an aircraft on fire. The official-looking jet on the tarmac was emblazoned with the words “Republic of Mali.”

Another video showed a gunman firing several machine gun rounds in an empty airport hall. A third showed smoke billowing from an airport hangar.

Reuters has not been able to authenticate the videos.

Access to the airport was temporarily restricted to avert any risks, the transport ministry said, telling people there to remain calm. The restriction was later lifted.

“Early this morning, a group of terrorists attempted to infiltrate the Faladie gendarmerie school.
Mopping-up operations are currently underway,” the army said in a statement.

Army chief General Oumar Diarra visited the school in the aftermath and told journalists the “complex attack” was now under control and fighters who infiltrated had been “neutralised”.

The report on state television showed around a dozen blindfolded men rounded up on the floor.

The footage also showed two blurred-out bodies, one in military fatigues and one in civilian clothing.

Later on Tuesday evening, the army said in a statement that the attack led to “some deaths” including cadets of the gendarme academy. It did not give an exact number.