DAKAR: Mali’s military junta has claimed it conducted air strikes against “terrorist groups” that were plotting attacks in the north of the African country, Western media reported on Wednesday.
Mali Junta Conducts Strikes on ‘Terrorists’
In a statement the country’s army said via social media “Malian Armed Forces air attacks followed by an airborne operation targeted “terrorist groups”, including a terrorist leader. The statement maintained that the terrorists had exerted “pressure on peaceful populations 22 miles north of Timbuktu region. Local officials told AFP that the region has been under an insurgency blockade since August.
The army claimed it destroyed a car in the operation, and also found “manufacturing equipment for improvised explosive devices (IED) and huge quantities of ammunition”.
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Since 2012, the African country has been in the grip of security issues that started in the north and has spread to the centre of Mali as well as to Niger and Burkina Faso.
Mali’s military leaders, which took power in 2020, have made sovereignty of the country a key priority. The 13,000-member UN peacekeeping force is to leave Mali by the end of the current year at the junta’s order.
