Many questions remain in Mali after the Bamako attacks

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on Wednesday strongly condemned the jihadist attacks carried out the day before in Bamako, Mali, where a tense calm reigned and where many questions remained.

One of them concerns the number of people killed in this operation claimed by jihadists affiliated with Al Qaeda, unprecedented for years in the Malian capital, while other regions are the target of almost daily attacks. Another question is the extent of the damage caused by these carefully planned acts of war, in which the jihadists temporarily took control of part of the airport and which deal a severe blow to the arguments of the ruling junta.

The general staff acknowledged on Tuesday afternoon “Some loss of life”in particular the gendarmerie students who died in the assault on the gendarmerie school, one of the targets along with the military airport, adjacent to the civilian airport. The attack was repelled, the attackers “neutralized” and the situation “quickly mastered”he said. Other sources report much higher death tolls. Despite official assurances, the shooting continued for much of Tuesday.

The Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM), which claimed responsibility for the operation, released videos of its fighters entering the presidential pavilion at the airport and setting fire to a plane from the official fleet. The authorities have neither denied nor confirmed that the plane of the junta’s own head, Colonel Assimi Goïta, was hit.

While the mode of operation is yet to be determined, the GSIM reported through its communication channels that a few dozen of its men had caused hundreds of deaths and injuries in enemy ranks, including members of the Russian Wagner group, an ally of the military regime in Bamako. According to the jihadist group, its fighters completely destroyed six military aircraft, including a drone, damaged four others and disabled numerous vehicles.

The claims of both sides remain difficult to verify in a context of renewed tension and severely restricted access to information by the military regime.

Resumption of flights

On Wednesday, businesses began to reopen around the gendarmerie camp. The main road through the camp remains closed to traffic and is guarded by armed police. No visible damage is visible from either outside or inside the camp. The Ministry of Transport announced on Tuesday evening the resumption of flights at Modibo-Keïta international airport.

ECOWAS, with which Mali broke away in January – at the same time as its neighbours Burkina Faso and Niger – expressed its support in a press release “strong condemnation” attacks. The three Sahel countries, facing common problems and led by the military following successive coups since 2020, accuse ECOWAS of not having supported them against jihadism and of being subordinate to the former French colonial power.

Tuesday’s attacks came a day after the first anniversary of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) they founded. On Sunday, the head of the Malian junta said the alliance had weakened. “significantly armed terrorist groups”. With Tuesday’s bold attacks, the GSIM is instead trying to show that it strikes wherever it wants. The damage inflicted undermines the regime’s assurances that it has turned the tide after years of descent into hell, thanks to multiple acts of rupture and the preference given to new partners, including Russia.

The GSIM is also trying to distance itself from accusations of abuses against civilians and instead present itself as a protector of the population, highlighting the abuses attributed to Malian soldiers and Wagner’s men. It thus claims to have carried out Tuesday’s attacks. “in retaliation for the hundreds of massacres committed by the ruling junta and its Russian allies against our Muslim people”.