Mali’s Defense Minister Sadio Camara was killed in an attack by an al-Qaeda-linked group, JNIM, on his residence at the Kati military base outside Bamako on Saturday, France’s RFI radio reported on Sunday.
Attacks continued on Sunday, a day after an al-Qaeda affiliate and Tuareg rebels carried out one of the largest coordinated attacks in the country in recent years, as gunfire rang out in a garrison town near Mali’s capital, a Reuters witness said.
The United Nations called for an international response to violence and terrorism in the West African Sahel region following Saturday’s large-scale assaults.
“The Secretary‑General is deeply concerned by reports of attacks in several locations across Mali. He strongly condemns these acts of violence,” a UN spokesperson posted on X/Twitter.
An al-Qaeda affiliate and Tuareg rebels claimed responsibility for the coordinated attacks around the capital, Bamako, in gold-producing areas and elsewhere across Mali, in one of the boldest operations insurgents have mounted in their campaign against the military-led government.
A UN security note said there had been “simultaneous complex attacks” in Kati and in cities and towns further north, including Mopti, Gao, and Kidal, while the US embassy in Mali urged its citizens to shelter in place.
Two explosions and sustained gunfire were heard shortly before 6 a.m. GMT near Mali’s main military base, and shots were still ringing out in the area more than four hours later as army helicopters flew overhead, a Reuters witness and two residents said.
The final toll of deaths and injuries remained unclear on Sunday, as did the fate of the contested city of Kidal, which the insurgents claimed to have recaptured from government forces in the assault.
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