At least nine people have been killed and more than 60 have been injured after a triple suicide bomb attack took place in the central Mali town of Sevare, early Saturday (April 22), said the regional governor’s spokesperson, as per Reuters. A report by AFP citing the country’s local and military officials said that the attack lasted for nearly three hours and the Malian military has since regained control of the area.
What do we know about the attack?
The spokesperson, Yacouba Maiga, told Reuters by phone that all those killed and wounded in Saturday’s blasts were civilians. So far, no individual or group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Meanwhile, the local and military officials said that the attack lasted from 5:30 am (local time) to around 8:00 am (local time) in Mopti region’s Sevare.
Eyewitnesses also told AFP, four loud explosions were heard, followed by automatic weapons fire while smoke was also seen near the airport. The governor of the Mopti region, Colonel Major Abass Dembele, visited the site after the attack and termed it a “car bomb attack” targeting an air base in Sevare.
“He first visited the wounded admitted to the Somine Dolo hospital before going to the…airport area where the vehicle bomb packed with explosives exploded without reaching its target,” said a statement, as per AFP. It added that the governor also praised the local residents who were “strongly mobilised” to donate blood to the injured.
Additionally, earlier on Saturday, Mali’s government, in a statement on national television that “a terrorist attack” had been stopped by the army in Sevare, reported Reuters, adding that “three vehicles filled with explosives were destroyed by army drone fire.”
Similarly, speaking on the condition of anonymity to AFP, a Malian military official referred to the incident as a “terrorist” attack. This also comes two days after the chief of staff of Mali’s interim president and three others were killed.
Army helicopter crashes in Mali’s capital city
In a separate incident, a Malian army helicopter crashed in a residential neighbourhood of the capital Bamako, on Saturday around 1:10 pm (local time) while returning from an “operational mission,” said the General Staff of the Armed Forces, in a statement.
Mali is at the centre of a violent insurgency following a separatist rebellion in 2012. Notably, Sevare is home to a major Mali military base and troops from the United Nations’ mission in Mali, MINUSMA.
The local elected official said Senegalese soldiers from the MINUSMA were involved in the fighting, reported AFP. The UN peacekeeping mission’s camp covers four hectares of land next to the airport and the Malian army camp.
Citing two local elected officials and a diplomatic source the site has been referred to as a camp housing Russian troops by the news agency AFP. This comes as Mali’s junta in 2022 began working with what it calls Russian military “instructors,” while opponents have reportedly said these are mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner group.
“It is the Russian camp and their planes that have been targeted – the camp is near the airport”, an anonymous local elected official told AFP.
(With inputs from agencies)
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