Nine Malian soldiers were killed in November by the explosion of homemade devices in the center as well as in the south of the country plagued by the spread of jihadist attacks, the army said on social networks.
“
The
FAMa
(Malian Armed Forces) were the subject in November 2022 of three improvised explosive device (IED) attacks with a cumulative toll of nine FAMa soldiers killed in action, eight wounded and three damaged vehicles.
“, she said in a press release published on her various accounts and consulted on Sunday.
The explosions occurred in the center of the country, one of the centers of Sahelian violence, but also in the region of Sikasso, in the South, formerly relatively spared.
Mali has been confronted with recurrent jihadist attacks since 2012 and is plunged into a deep security and political crisis.
Dozens of deaths every year
The center of the country is mainly the terrain of the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM, JNIM according to its acronym in Arabic), affiliated with the jihadist organization Al-Qaeda, which is extending its action towards the south.
The Malian army launched a large operation in the center at the end of 2021. Multiple sources report that it is associated with the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, with controversial actions.
The junta in power in Bamako since 2020 denies having appealed to Wagner.
Mines and IEDs are among the weapons of choice of the jihadists who have been raging in the country since 2012 and target the symbols of the State and the foreign presence.
These attacks cause dozens of deaths each year, mostly soldiers but also civilians.
The Malian army said in its press release that it had "
neutralized
" more than 70 "
terrorists
" in November and had recovered weapons, equipment for the manufacture of explosive devices, but also heads of cattle and stocks of cereals handed over by the populations. to jihadists as an Islamic tax.
This information is very difficult to verify in the absence of access to the field and to independent and reliable sources.