BAMAKO: Gunmen have attacked the main military base where Mali’s interim president lives outside the capital Bamako, but the armed forces said they repelled the assault and brought the situation under control.
Groups linked to Al Qaeda and Daesh have repeatedly attacked army bases across Mali during decade-long violence concentrated in the north and centre but never so close to Bamako in the south.
Heavy gunfire rang out for about an hour early on Friday at the Kati camp, about 15 kilometres from Bamako.
A convoy carrying the leader of Mali’s junta, Colonel Assimi Goita, later sped away from his house in Kati in the direction of Bamako, according to media.
“The Malian Armed Forces vigorously repelled a terrorist attack against the Kati base. It was early this morning at around 5 o’clock with two car bombs,” the military said in a tweet. “The provisional death toll is two assailants neutralised. The situation is under control and clearing operations are under way to flush out the authors and their accomplices.” Kati was the site of mutinies in 2012 and 2020 that led to successful coups. Three camp residents, who asked not to be identified, said the soldiers did not appear to be fighting among themselves. –Agencies
