More than 25 Malian army soldiers have died from the latest terrorist attack on Mali. This brings the war-stricken country into fresh conflict with the many armed militia active in the country.
No armed group took responsibility for the attack.
The early Monday morning attack occurred in Bamba, a town in the northern part of Mali. More than a dozen assailants attacked a military camp based in the town and brutally massacred the soldiers.
They then burned down the camp before escaping with weapons and other equipment.
The government of Mali confirmed the attack in a statement saying more militiamen died in the exchange of fire. Others, however, managed to escape.
The assailants responsible for the terrorist attack were not immediately apparent.
Residents were aware
While it seems like the soldiers were caught unawares, residents of Bamba reported having seen the militiamen the day before.
Confirming this, a resident said that on Sunday the previous day, militiamen had arrived into the town riding on motorcycles.
They had then gone around the neighboring villages in what seemed like a survey. At dawn on Monday, the militia gathered and perpetrated the terrorist attack on the military base.
The residents would later wake to the sight of at least 23 bodies of soldiers killed in the attack. The assailants had also not only burned down the camp but also looted other equipment.
No civilians were reported to have been harmed in the terrorist attack. It was therefore apparent that the attack was aimed at the soldiers only.
This is not the first time the Malian army is suffering from terrorist attacks. On several other occasions, their bases have been attacked leaving them suffering heavy casualties.
Attacks on the Malian army come from the many armed local militias hidden in the country. These have often pledged allegiance to both the al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL) terror groups.
The rebellious groups arose following local revolts in northern Mali. These quickly developed onto fully-fledged conflicts that sent the country in a downward spiral. The conflicts have now spilled over into Burkina Faso and Niger – countries neighboring Mali.
Troops from France and the UN must go
Following the rise of rebellion, the UN, France and also the Malian government sent troops into the volatile zones. As such, Mali has a heavy presence of armed groups, be it the national army, international armies, and or the local militiamen.
The heavy presence of armed groups has, in turn, meant the country is ever in conflict. This has led to the death of thousands of civilians and the deterioration of the economy.
In 2019 alone, the conflict killed more than 4000, a figure that rose by five times from 2016.
As a means to end the war, the government of Mali has offered to negotiate with the terrorists. This is following a 2015 peace deal between the government and several militia groups.
A key provision in the agreement was the decentralization of government. The army was also to work with former rebels and deploy them as troops.
The implementation of this agreement has been happening but at a very slow and painful pace. Disagreements on its implementation result in the militia attacking army bases. These actions jeopardize the peace pact.
Currently, the armed groups hold that the peace deal can only be renegotiated with the French, UN and other international troops out of Mali.
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