Al-Qaeda-affiliated jihadists claimed responsibility for a double attack on the military airport and a gendarmerie camp in Bamako on Tuesday. Here’s what we know about this unprecedented operation in years in the Malian capital.
What happened?
Bamako woke up around 5:00 a.m. to the sound of gunfire interspersed with explosions. The Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM), a jihadist alliance affiliated with Al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility for a double attack on the military airport and the gendarmerie school a few minutes away.
The Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, General Oumar Diarra, was content to speak of “somewhat complex infiltration attempts”, but only at the gendarmerie, without mentioning the airport. The army assured that the attack had been foiled and that the situation was “under control”. However, clashes were still being heard in the afternoon near the airport.
What is the outcome of the attack?
As is almost always the case in security matters under the junta, information on the modus operandi of the attack or its toll is rare, in a context of restricted access to information, and remained so at the start of the evening. The JNIM assured that it had inflicted “enormous human and material losses and the destruction of several military aircraft”. An airport official speaking on condition of anonymity reported the destruction of six aircraft, without further details, as well as drone launch pads. She added that there were “deaths”, without further details.
Authorities have remained silent about the damage. “The terrorists who infiltrated have been neutralized,” the chief of staff said. State television showed images of about 20 men held captive, their hands shackled and their eyes blindfolded. Images circulating on social media showed charred bodies.
Why is this attack important?
It goes beyond human and material damage. For the first time in a long time, the JNIM, one of the main jihadist actors in Mali along with the Islamic State organization, is bringing to Bamako itself the fight it has been waging for years against the Malian state.
While some regions of the country, including the north and centre where JNIM is most active, remain the target of almost daily attacks, the capital had been spared from insecurity since the deadly attacks on the La Terrasse restaurant (April 2015), the Radisson Blu hotel (November 2015) and the attack on the Nord-Sud hotel (March 2016).
The JNIM, engaged in a struggle for control of the territory in order to impose its rigorous social vision and its economic interests, has extended its influence towards the capital and the south, despite the reinforced operations of the Malian army and the Wagner group. In July 2022, the JNIM struck at the heart of power with a suicide attack in Kati, a garrison town and stronghold of the junta.
A strategy called into question?
The junta, which seized power by force in 2020, stating that restoration was its top priority, regularly claims to have reversed the trend against the “terrorists” (jihadists but also separatists in the northern region) in favor of the Malian state.
She broke the old historical alliance with France and the European countries and turned politically and militarily towards Russia, enlisting the services of Wagner according to a multitude of sources. She allied herself with the military regimes that, following the example, came to the head of Burkina Faso and Niger.
Tuesday’s attack comes the day after the first anniversary of this Alliance of Sahel States. “Thanks to this strategic alliance, our defense and security forces have recorded important victories on the ground, considerably weakening the armed terrorist groups,” declared the head of the Malian junta, Colonel Assimi Goïta, on Sunday. In addition, the military airport attacked Tuesday is believed to be very close to the Wagner transit camp.
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