BAMAKO (Askume) – Mali said on Tuesday it had taken control of the capital Bamako after rebels attacked a gendarmerie training school and other areas before dawn, sending gunfire echoing across the city.
Tensions rose in the capital following the attack, with youth vigilante squads patrolling the streets.
Askume saw a charred body. People nearby said it was a cigarette vendor who was set on fire by youths because he was wearing a bullet belt and they suspected him of being the attacker.
Authorities did not specify who was responsible for the predawn attack on strategic Bamako, but the unrest was a rare incident to hit the capital after years of armed conflict between government forces and Islamist insurgents in the interior.
“Early this morning, a group of terrorists tried to enter the Phaladi Military Police School. Clearance operation is currently underway,” the army said in a statement.
The junta said “several sensitive places in the capital” were attacked, including a training school in the Faradi area on the southeastern outskirts of Bamako, close to the main international airport.
Before sunrise, Askume heard gunfire from the Banankabugu community near Faladi. People who had gone to the mosque for morning prayers returned when the shots were fired.
A police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was gunfire around the airport and a nearby military base. A security source said gunfire was heard in several areas, including the main airport.
The junta said the army had repelled the attackers and urged citizens to go about their daily work. The military said the capital was under control.
A video circulating on social media showed some men in plainclothes surrounding two young boys and pushing them to the ground. Askume was unable to confirm the authenticity of the footage.
The Transport Ministry said in a statement that to avoid any risk, access to the airport has been temporarily restricted and people have been asked to remain calm. An airport employee said over the phone that everyone remained inside the building after the firing subsided.
A long-running rebellion
The attack began at around 0300 GMT, a security source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. He suspected the attackers took advantage of Monday’s Muslim holiday, when large numbers of pilgrims flocked to the city.
Mali is one of several West African countries battling an Islamist insurgency that took root in Mali’s arid north in 2012 and has since spread across the Sahel and more recently the north of the coastal country.
Thousands of people have been killed and millions displaced in the region as militants, some linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State, advance and are driven out by military operations. The government and militants have been accused of violence against civilians.
Discontent with the authorities’ failure to restore security led to two coups in Mali in 2020 and 2021, followed by two in neighbouring Burkina Faso and one in Niger.
But despite the junta’s pledges to improve security, partly by shifting its alliance with the West with Russian support and by bringing in mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner private army, jihadist attacks have increased.
In late July, in fighting between Tuareg rebels and the Malian army near the Algerian border, an experienced Wagner fighter was killed . The Malian army suffered heavy losses and was ambushed by jihadists during its retreat.
However, insurgents rarely launch attacks inside the capital. The last major attack in Bamako was in 2015, when militants attacked the Radisson Blu hotel, killing 20 people.
