Several senior officers of the Malian army were "
detained
" Saturday noon by their troops, in Boni (center), after a deadly ambush attributed to jihadists, we learned from military and security sources.
Read also Mali: 15 soldiers killed in an ambush in the center
“
A helicopter landed at Boni with the chefs who came to see us. We detained these leaders and let the helicopter go. We will take the road with them to Sévaré so that they can see for themselves the security problems we have,
”one of the soldiers told AFP, who requested anonymity.
The officers retained are "
high-ranking officers of the gendarmerie and the army
", added this soldier, presenting himself as "
angry with the hierarchy
". A Malian security source confirmed to AFP that "
senior officers
" of the army, arrived by helicopter to visit the soldiers stationed in Boni, are "
effectively retained by the troops who want to show them the realities on the ground
" . According to an elected official from the locality, "
discussions are currently taking place so that the senior officers are completely free of their movements, and that calm returns within the troops
".
Mali is currently led by a soldier, Colonel Assimi Goïta, the country's new strongman after the coup d'état which overthrew President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta a year ago on August 18, 2020, against a backdrop of protests against corruption and state powerlessness in the face of insecurity.
Read also Mali: hundreds of displaced after alleged jihadist attacks
An ambush Thursday triggered by the explosion of a car bomb, followed by "
intense shootings
", killed 17 Malian soldiers, as well as 42 wounded and one missing, according to a new report Saturday from a security source. The previous assessment of the Malian army reported 15 killed. The Malian soldiers had left Boni in the direction of Douentza, in the region of Mopti (center), in an area made up of an area of sparse forests and bush overhung by a rocky massif where jihadist elements linked to Al -Qaida and the Islamic State organization.
Attacks against Malian forces are regular and deadly. Ten Malian soldiers were killed in February in the attack on the Boni post. Since 2012 and the outbreak of independence and jihadist rebellions in the North, Mali has been plunged into a multifaceted turmoil that has left thousands dead, civilians and combatants, despite the support of the international community and the intervention of forces from the UN, African and French.