Militants linked to al-Qaida killed more than 30 soldiers in an assault on a military base in central Mali and launched a separate attack Monday on an airport in the historic city of Timbuktu, according to security sources and local witnesses.
The attacks were carried out by the jihadist group Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM), which has intensified its campaign across the Sahel region in recent weeks. JNIM fighters overran the Boulkessi base near the border with Burkina Faso on Sunday, forcing Malian troops to pull back after fierce resistance, military sources said.
A municipal official in nearby Mondoro said “many soldiers” had died, while videos circulating online showed militants standing over bodies in the sandy compound. Reuters could not immediately verify the footage.
Meanwhile in Timbuktu, gunfire and shelling rattled the city as JNIM claimed responsibility for an assault on the military airport and Russian mercenaries deployed there. Residents said panic gripped the city as gun battles erupted.
“It started with loud blasts, then gunfire. People are hiding in their homes; we’re scared and don’t know what’s happening,” one resident said.
The attacks in Mali are part of a broader wave of violence by jihadists who have reportedly killed more than 400 soldiers in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger since early May.
In late May, JNIM said it killed 40 soldiers in an assault on a base in Dioura, central Mali, and later claimed it overran a garrison in Sirakorola in the southwest. In Burkina Faso, it claimed killing 200 soldiers in attacks in mid-May, while in Niger, security sources said over 100 soldiers were killed in late May raids.
The region has seen a surge in violence despite military-led governments that took power in coups between 2020 and 2023, promising to end the jihadist insurgency. These juntas have cut ties with Western allies and turned to Russia for security support but have struggled to stop the bloodshed that has forced millions to flee their homes.
