Mali Attack Killed 50 or More, but Leaders Say Little

Africa|Assault on Mali’s Capital Killed 50 or More, but Leaders Say Little

The military junta ruling the West African nation of Mali suffered one of its deadliest attacks in years this week, as extremists affiliated with Al Qaeda killed at least 50 members of its armed forces in an assault on the capital, Bamako.

But even as a private ceremony for the dead was being arranged for Thursday, the junta had yet to acknowledge the true toll of the assault, which struck two symbolically important military sites and brought an Islamist insurrection that has ravaged much of Mali to its doorstep. Tuesday’s attack sent a direct message to the country’s leader, Col. Assimi Goïta, as assailants stormed his former military base and set fire to his plane.

The Islamist group Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, or JNIM, which has declared allegiance to Al Qaeda and is one of the deadliest extremist organizations in West Africa, claimed responsibility for the attack, the first in Mali’s capital since 2016.

The death toll of 50 or more is a preliminary, conservative figure based on interviews with members of Mali’s security forces, a surgeon at a Bamako hospital and a Western intelligence official with extensive knowledge of West Africa.

All spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the attack publicly. The junta has not said how many people were killed.

The assault began at a school for military police in Faladié, a neighborhood halfway between downtown Bamako and the airport. Hundreds of trainees were still asleep when insurgents stormed the school compound around 5:30 a.m. The camp that hosts the school is also home to an elite special forces unit to which Colonel Goïta belongs.