In the night of September 18 to 19, the Kasséla checkpoint on the outskirts of Bamako came under attack. Men who arrived on foot, armed and equipped with communication gear traded heavy fire with the soldiers. Several troops were hit, weapons and ammunition went missing, and two soldiers first reported unaccounted for turned up safe and sound.
The next day in Sévaré, some 600 kilometres north of the capital, kamikaze drones targeted a hangar where the Malian army keeps its own aircraft. The airport zone was sealed off and police officers were ordered to stay home until September 21. Malian troops, special forces and Russia’s Africa Corps are stationed there. No casualty figures have been released for either Kasséla or Sévaré.
As for who was behind them, the articles consulted name no one with certainty, although regional media point to JNIM, the al-Qaeda affiliate. One theory keeps surfacing in commentary: that the aim was to disrupt the 66th anniversary of independence, due on September 22.
Both attacks came ten days after Dioura, in the Mopti region, where a military camp fell on September 10. Early accounts spoke of more than 50 soldiers killed, including five Africa Corps members, then of 60 to 80 dead. Several sources cited by Arab News now put the toll at a minimum of 100, two officers among them, with about 30 wounded and between 80 and 93 taken prisoner. JNIM, which reportedly acted alongside Tuareg allies, claims to have « neutralised » 150 soldiers, a figure that cannot be verified. One security source says the men at the camp lacked air support and that many were on their first field deployment.
The army has published no count. It has said it is conducting air and ground operations against the attackers and that it neutralised several fighters trying to flee. Eight days after the assault, the base is reportedly still abandoned.
Since late April, the group has waged a large-scale campaign against the ruling junta. It has taken Kidal and, according to Arab News, caused the death of the defence minister. In July, another attack in the north had already cost the lives of more than 50 soldiers, according to Africanews.
On Dioura, then, security sources and JNIM’s own claims stand in for official information.