A jihadist group affiliated with Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attack that occurred during the night from Monday to Tuesday, in Nioro du Sahel, in the southern part of Mali, during which dozens of Moroccan trucks carrying international goods loaded of fruits and vegetables came under fire.
The members of the group claim to have succeeded in “taking control of three Malian security and administrative sites before withdrawing after violent fighting which pushed the Malian army forces to flee the area of the attack”. This attack is not without consequences. “The attack caused material losses, including the destruction of five military armored vehicles, the seizure of two motorcycles, and the death of a single fighter from the group, while denying any link with the corpses whose images were circulating in the city, describing them as civilians killed by the Malian army,” specifies the same source.
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The terrorist attack occurred in Nioro du Sahel, near the Mauritanian border, in the southern part of Mali around 12:30 a.m. while around 30 Moroccan trucks were trying to cross the border into Mauritania. The gunmen who launched the attack on the town opened fire on Moroccan trucks lined up on the border road. The Moroccan drivers had to flee. In the process, the Malian army regained control of the area. The Moroccan truckers then returned to the scene.
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There are no losses of human life or injuries among Moroccan drivers. But “around 30 Moroccan trucks operating in international transport in West Africa were damaged”, specified to Hespress the national secretary of the General Union of International and National Transport Professionals.
