Attack in Bamako: What do we know about the shooting claimed by JNIM?

The jihadist group Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM or GSIM in French), a jihadist alliance affiliated with Al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the attack on a military training school in Bamako, in a message relayed via its communication channels.

“A special operation targeting the military airport and the training center of the Malian gendarmes in the center of the Malian capital (Bamako) this morning (Tuesday) at dawn, causing enormous human and material losses and the destruction of several military aircraft,” claimed the GSIM.

In its statement on the attack, the Malian army did not specify the number of people killed or injured.

She said that the Malian military had foiled attempts by “terrorists” to infiltrate the Faladié gendarmerie school.

JNIM is considered one of the most active militant groups in the Sahel, known for attacks in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.

The Ministry of Security assured residents that they could continue their activities as normal following the attack. However, UN staff in Mali received the following message: “Gunshots have been heard in some neighbourhoods of Bamako. All UN staff should limit their movements until further notice.”

“As a citizen, it is worrying to know that attacks can be carried out in the heart of Bamako because anyone who knows Faladié knows that it is the city centre of the capital, it is a densely populated area so it is really worrying in terms of security, it worries us to know that we can be attacked all the way to Bamako. It is even surprising because everyone woke up this morning asking questions, yes it is really worrying,” said Adama, a Bamako resident contacted by BBC Afrique.

Videos posted earlier on social media showed thick clouds of black smoke rising from part of the city.

As gunshots rang out, people heading to the mosque for morning prayers were forced to turn back, Reuters news agency reported.

Bamako’s Modibo Keita International Airport was closed following the attack.

Mali has been in the grip of a multidimensional crisis since 2012. The country is facing the jihadist threat and has been the scene of two putschs, in August 2020 and May 2021. It has since been governed by a junta led by Colonel Assimi Goïta.

Gunmen attacked a military training school in Mali’s capital Bamako on Tuesday in an early morning assault that targeted many parts of the city, authorities said.

“Early this morning, a group of terrorists attempted to infiltrate the Faladie military police school,” the army said on social media.

The security ministry spoke of “terrorist attacks” against “sensitive points in the capital”, including the military police school.

Malian military authorities generally use the term “terrorists” to refer to jihadists and separatists in the north of the country.

Search operations are underway, the army said, calling on the population to remain calm and avoid the area.

No casualties were reported. However, two security forces members told AFP they were injured in the attack.

“It was around 4am that the detonations woke us up, we could hear the exchange of gunfire, very loud detonations more than 5 km from the attack zone. It was the gendarmerie camp which houses a school that was attacked in addition to a post at the Sénou airport, we had smoke released into the sky and then we heard loud detonations throughout the city,” according to Adama Junior.

Mali’s military said Tuesday the situation was “under control” after what it called a foiled infiltration attempt by “terrorists” into a military police base in the capital, Bamako, where attacks are rare.

The army said the attackers had hit a gendarmerie school near the city’s airport, but the situation was now “under control”.

The school is one of the “sensitive points” “targeted by terrorist attacks” at dawn, the Ministry of Security said.