Mali’s military says it’s broken a rebel blockade around a strategic northern base

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Mali’s military announced on Friday that it has broken a rebel blockade around a strategic army base in the north as the West African country’s junta battles a renewed offensive by separatists and al-Qaida-linked militants.

Anéfis is located between the separatist-controlled town of Kidal and the town of Gao, which is under the military government. Late on Thursday, separatists from the Azawad Liberation Front, or FLA, said they attacked a large convoy of reinforcements from the Malian army, their Russian Africa Corps allies and local militias, cutting off the base.

But on Friday, they acknowledged that they withdrew from the area after heavy fighting.

The army said that in the last 24 hours, “12 combat vehicles were destroyed and nearly 100 terrorists were neutralized.” It did not provide a latest casualty toll for the military, including at Anéfis.

The Malian army said in a statement on social media on Friday that a large logistics convoy of reinforcements arrived the previous night from Gao to Anéfis.

“Operations from the air and on the ground allowed” the military to retake the area “despite several ambushes by the terrorist armed groups of the JNIM, the FLA and their affiliates,” it said.

Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, FLA’s spokesperson, said that “ultimately, we decided to withdraw so we could better organize ourselves.” He claimed Niger and Burkina Faso’s militaries came to the aid of Mali’s army.

“On our side, the toll is five dead and about 10 wounded,” he added and claimed the militaries, including Russia’s Africa Corps, suffered “many deaths.”

The army’s and the separatists’ claims could not be independently verified.

Last week, FLA separatists targeted several northern towns, including the nearby Gao, and effectively put the military camp of Anéfis under a blockade, which the Malian army had been trying to break. The first convoy sent by the Malian army was ambushed last Sunday, FLA said. Images of what the rebels said was a downed helicopter and burned military trucks circulated on social media.

Mali has previously faced insurgencies by militants affiliated with al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, as well as a separatist rebellion in the country’s north. The separatists have been fighting for years to create an independent state in northern Mali.

In April, the FLA and the regional al-Qaida affiliate JNIM launched some of heaviest attacks in over a decade, killing Mali’s defense minister, Gen. Sadio Camara, in his home and taking control of several key northern towns.

Mali’s junta is led by Gen. Assimi Goita.

Along with Mali, neighboring Niger and Burkina Faso have also been battling jihadis. Following military coups, the juntas in the three countries turned from Western allies to Russia for help combating Islamic militants.

But the security situation has worsened with a record number of militant attacks. Government forces and Russian fighters have also been accused of killing civilians they suspect of collaborating with militants.