Mali’s military says rebels have launched new attacks in towns and cities Military Issues

The army has carried out attacks in five locations across Mali, more than two months after militants attacked the country’s capital and other parts of the country.

The attacks took place on Saturday in areas including a northern town where government forces and Russian rebels are based, and a town south of the capital Bamako, Mali’s military and security forces said.

The military said the rebels attacked Aguelhok, Anefis, and Gao in the north, Sevare in the central region, and Kenieroba in the south.

In a subsequent statement, he said 20 “terrorists” had been killed in Sevare and six in Gao, adding that the situation was now “fully under control”.

One pro-government soldier was also killed in Gao and four wounded, the military statement added.

AFP reported that a prison in Kenieroba, located 74km (46 miles) from Bamako, was attacked, citing security personnel. It said fighting in different areas started at around 5 am local time (05:00 GMT).

An army led by the Tuareg has confirmed that it attacked one of the towns in the early hours of Saturday.

Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, a spokesman for the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), told Reuters news agency that the group’s insurgents attacked the town of Anefis, which is northeast of Kidal.

Government and Russian troops were sent to Anefis after the attack April 25 and 26in which the FLA and its al-Qaeda affiliate captured the town of Kidal.

In the past, Mali has faced terrorist attacks by armed groups affiliated with al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS), as well as separatist rebels in the north of the country. The separatists have been fighting for years to create an independent state in northern Mali.

Violence is widespread, despite military leaders’ promises to end the rebellion.

‘The explosion was terrible’

Earlier on Saturday, the FLA’s Ramadane told AFP that “several positions have fallen, but the fighting is still going on inside the city” of Anefis.

A resident of Anefis who was contacted by AFP said “army forces are in the town, but the army is still resisting.”

Anefis and Aguelhok, both in the north, are said to be the last places where Malian soldiers remain in the Kidal region following the April attacks, after they were driven out of the town of Kidal.

Meanwhile, in Gao, a local official told Reuters that gunfire and rockets had been fired at military camps since dawn. It was not immediately clear who started the fight.

In Sevare, the central town, “an explosion occurred … at around 5 am, although its origin is unknown. Soon after, several planes were seen flying in the area,” AFP said.

A resident of Sevare told Reuters that the early morning gunfire was followed by four large explosions in the western part of the city at around 8am, and the largest explosion was heard in the town at around 10am.

In Kenieroba in the south, the main prison was also attacked, an inmate at the site told AFP. A diplomatic and defense expert told Reuters that security forces chased away the attackers. A government spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.

Saturday’s attack was the latest threat to the country’s military-led government in the Sahel, where militants staged a major attack in April, hitting an airport in the capital Bamako, killing the defense minister and seizing several army units in the north. Recently, the armed forces have also blocked oil, killing the city’s residents and energy businesses.