Fourteen Malian soldiers were killed and eleven injured Tuesday during clashes with jihadists in the center of the country, according to a new report given Thursday by the army.
The previous assessment reported the day before at least 12 Malian soldiers killed during these fights which took place between Mopti and Ségou after several attacks against the army with homemade bombs.
"
Enemy side
", the Malian army claims to have neutralized "
31 terrorists
", in a statement sent to AFP.
A country in crisis
Since 2012, Mali has suffered from the spread of the jihadist movement and a deep multidimensional, political, economic and humanitarian crisis.
The center of the country is one of the hotbeds of the violence which has spread to neighboring countries, Burkina Faso and Niger, and is spreading towards the south.
The colonels who came to power by a putsch in 2020 and reinforced by a second coup in 2021 turned away from the former French ally and its partners, and turned militarily and politically towards the Russians.
The junta launched an operation focused on central Mali at the end of 2021.
She claims to have cornered the jihadists on the run and on the defensive across the country.
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But in a report by its secretary general presented to the Security Council on Tuesday, the UN writes on the contrary that the security conditions continued to deteriorate between June and December 2022 in the center of the Sahel, "
in particular in Burkina Faso and in Mali
”.
"
In Mali, after the departure of international forces, armed groups advanced in the east of the country, taking control of large border areas with Niger
", underlines the report.
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