Jihadists have attacked two military installations in Mali, according to the army and other sources, with residents telling AFP Wednesday that both areas came under serious assault.
The attacks, which took place Tuesday, were claimed by Al-Qaeda-linked jihadists from the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims, known by its Arabic acronym JNIM.
For more than a decade Mali has faced violence from fighters linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, as well as from separatist movements and criminal gangs.
The latest attacks come as the country's junta, which came to power following back-to-back military coups in 2020 and 2021, battles an acute spike in violence.
The militants claimed to have taken control of a military camp in the central town of Farabougou on Tuesday morning.
"At the moment, it's difficult to say what's going on," a resident of Farabougou told AFP Wednesday.
"There are many jihadists, two-by-two on motorcycles, but from where we are, we haven't seen any soldiers, even though this is the main access road to the village."
The militants also attacked a military installation in the southwestern town of Kassela later in the day Tuesday, located just dozens of kilometres from the capital Bamako.
Mali's army confirmed Tuesday's attacks, but neither it nor the JNIM gave a death toll.
"The toll booth and the military detachment were on fire last night," a resident of Kassela told AFP Wednesday. "The area is swarming with Malian and Russian soldiers this morning."
Since seizing power Mali's military government has forged ties with Russia, whose mercenaries from the paramilitary Wagner group and its successor Africa Corps have helped the Malian army fight jihadists and other internal adversaries.
The junta pivoted to Russia after turning its back on France, arguing that Mali should be free of its former colonial ruler.
Yet Mali has continued to struggle to contain the jihadist threat, while the regular army and its Russian allies are frequently accused of committing atrocities against civilians.
Mali and its junta-led neighbours Burkina Faso and Niger, which have also broken ties with France, have teamed up to create their own confederation, the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).
Each country in the confederation is battling a surge in jihadist violence.
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