At least four soldiers, two civilians and five assailants were killed on Sunday August 7 in the attack, attributed to jihadist groups, of a locality where a military camp is located, Tessit, in the so-called three-border area between Mali, Burkina and Niger, said the Malian army.
The toll could be "
much heavier
" for the Malian army, several sources contacted on the ground told AFP who could not be named for security reasons.
The two civilians are local elected officials, relatives of the victims told AFP.
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The sector of Tessit, located on the Malian side of the three-border zone, in a huge rural bush region not controlled by the state, is frequently the scene of clashes and attacks.
Armed groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda, gathered under the leadership of the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM, JNIM in Arabic), are fighting the Islamic State group in the Greater Sahara (EIGS), affiliated with the organization IS.
The jihadists seek control of this strategic and gold-bearing area.
The Malian army, based in a military camp near the town of Tessit, has also often been attacked in this region.
In this area sometimes called the "
Malian Gourma
" also operate blue helmets from the UN mission in Mali and until a few months ago, French soldiers from Operation Barkhane.
As for civilians, as elsewhere in Mali, they are caught in the crossfire of these actors in the conflict, and accused of being allied with one when they are not with the other.
The inhabitants of the area have fled by the thousands, in particular to the large neighboring town of Gao, some 150 km away.
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The Tessit region, like the whole of the so-called three-border zone, is all the more landlocked during the rainy season when heavy rainfall prevents passage.
Mali has been in turmoil since 2012. The jihadist spread, initially confined to the north of the country, has spread to central and southern Mali, as well as to neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger.