The Malian army wins a decisive victory by repelling four jihadist attacks, including one in Ménaka

Last Sunday, the Malian army reported repelling four attacks deemed «terrorist» in various locations in the northern part of the country, notably including the city of Ménaka, currently besieged by Islamic State-affiliated jihadists. According to an evening statement, the Malian Armed Forces (FAMA) successfully repelled these attacks against four military positions situated in Labbezagan, Gossi, Tessalit, and Ménaka.

In Ménaka, a strategically important city in northeastern Mali near the Nigerien border, the Malian army announced inflicting a severe defeat on a significant concentration of terrorist fighters. Despite the terrorists’ asserted determination to confront our forces, the Malian Armed Forces (FAMA) managed to neutralize several dozen of them and apprehend around twenty others, marking a bloody victory against the assailants.

During the attack, the telecommunications relay of Orange-Mali in the city was damaged, as reported by an official from the governorate, rendering communications on-site very difficult. The collection and verification of information are complicated by the difficulty in accessing remote sites and independent sources in a generally degraded context.

Mali has been grappling since 2012 with activities from groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State organization, alongside violence from self-proclaimed defense groups and banditry. The security crisis is compounded by deep humanitarian and political crises.

Particularly, the north has witnessed an escalation in military confrontations since August. The withdrawal of the UN mission, pushed out by the ruling junta, sparked a race for territorial control between the military, jihadists, and separatists who have taken up arms against the central government.

Omar