Mali’s army says it killed around 40 Islamist militants while repelling a major attack on a military base in the central town of San, where fighting also left at least 10 soldiers dead.
Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), an al-Qaeda-linked militant group, claimed responsibility for Sunday’s assault and said its fighters had taken control of the base.
The Malian military disputed that account, saying troops had only been forced to temporarily withdraw during the fighting before regaining control.
“The enemy was eliminated and the attack was successfully repelled. Around 40 terrorists were eliminated,” Lt Col El Oumrani, commander of the 23rd regiment based in San, said in a video statement.
He said the base remained under army control and urged residents to remain vigilant.
“The camp of the 23rd is not empty. It is under the custody of the army,” he said.
The assault began at around 5 a.m. local time on Sunday and lasted about two hours, according to witnesses cited by French broadcaster RFI.
Witnesses said the attackers arrived on motorcycles and on foot, with some reportedly wearing army uniforms in an attempt to infiltrate the compound.
One witness said the militants entered the camp and remained there for some time before withdrawing.
Fighting was also reported several hundred metres from the base, with some attackers fleeing into nearby homes and surrounding forest.
AFP, citing security and local sources, reported that at least 10 Malian soldiers were killed and that the militants briefly seized the military camp.
The army told state broadcaster ORTM that the attackers used drones, heavy machine guns and armoured vehicles to breach the base’s perimeter.
The attack highlights Mali’s worsening security crisis as armed groups expand operations beyond their traditional strongholds in the country’s north.
Mali has faced a jihadist insurgency since 2012, with large areas of the north and parts of the centre remaining beyond effective government control.
JNIM has increasingly extended its operations into central and southern Mali despite repeated military campaigns against the group.
In April, coordinated attacks by jihadist groups and separatist rebels from the Azawad Liberation Front struck several locations across the country. Defence Minister Sadio Camara was killed during the violence in an apparent suicide truck bombing near the capital, Bamako.
Mali’s military leadership, headed by Gen Assimi Goïta following a 2020 coup, has severed much of its former security cooperation with France and increasingly turned to Russia for military support.