For more than a decade Mali has faced assaults from groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group as well as separatist movements and criminal gangs.

Al-Qaeda-linked jihadists from the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) claimed the attacks on their Al-Zallaqa Foundation media platform.

The group has already claimed two other major attacks against the Malian army just in the last month.

Mali's army said in a statement that seven of its positions in the west had been targeted in "coordinated attacks carried out very early this morning". No death toll was given.

Residents and a local politician confirmed the attacks in at least four towns.

"We woke up in shock this morning. There's gunfire, and from my house I can see smoke billowing towards the governor's residence," one resident in the city of Kayes told AFP.

The person described the gunfire as "intense" while another reported sheltering at home while the assault raged on.

A military source confirmed that an explosion was first heard coming from the governor's residence but said that "by the time we got organised, there was already gunfire at the camp".

Elsewhere, a local political official wrote on Facebook that "the region of Nioro woke up in shock" and that the towns of Nioro, Sandare and Gogui had been targeted.

All seven of the towns named by the military are in western Mali, with one, Diboli, directly on the border with Senegal.

The JNIM, from its position in Mali, hopes to establish itself in Senegal and Mauritania, according to a study by the Timbuktu Institute, a research centre based in Dakar.

Mali's military said in the statement Tuesday that the situation involving the latest attacks was being followed "very closely" and that it would provide more details later.

For its part, the JNIM said it had taken "total control of three enemy barracks and dozens of military checkpoints" in "coordinated attacks" in Niono, Diboli, Sandare, Gogui, Kayes and Nioro -- towns also cited by the military and residents.

- Intensified offences -

The assaults come on the heels of two major attacks claimed by jihadists within the last month.

On June 2, a coordinated assault targeted an army camp in the ancient city of Timbuktu in Mali's north, as well as its airport.

That attack came a day after a bloody raid killed at least 30 soldiers in the centre of the country.

Jihadists have also intensified their offensives in the larger Sahel region in recent weeks, carrying out raids not just in Mali, but also in Burkina Faso and Niger.

The three Sahel states' military juntas pledged during the coups that brought them to power to make security a priority, but they are struggling to contain the jihadists' advance.

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