The Malian military on Sunday reported fresh clashes erupting in the northern region with armed rebel groups, marking the latest in a string of attacks against the army in the turbulent West African nation.
The military took to social media to announce “intense fighting” against “terrorists” during the early hours of the morning in the Bamba region, an area that separatist rebels had previously asserted control over.
In a social media message attributed to the Permanent Strategic Framework, primarily led by the Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA), the rebels claimed to have captured the northern locality.
The CMA is a coalition primarily composed of Tuareg factions that aspire to achieve autonomy or complete independence from the Malian government.
On Saturday, separatist groups led by Tuareg forces asserted that they had dealt significant casualties to the Malian military during an assault in the country’s central region, alleging the demise of 81 soldiers.
Since the conclusion of August, northern Mali has witnessed a resurgence of hostilities from the CMA along with an escalation of jihadist assaults against the Malian military.
On September 7th, the military faced an attack in Bamba, an operation attributed to the Al-Qaeda-affiliated coalition known as the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM).
The surge in violence aligns with the concurrent withdrawal of the UN stabilization force MINUSMA, a move prompted by the ruling junta.
The junta in Mali, which took control in 2020, grapples with a myriad of security issues across the economically disadvantaged and landlocked nation.