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Tuareg-led armed group says it attacked northern town where Malian troops and Russian fighters are based.
Armed men have launched attacks in five locations across Mali, the army says, more than two months after gunmen attacked the capital and other parts of the country.
The attacks took place on Saturday in areas including a northern town where government forces and Russian fighters are based, and a town south of the capital, Bamako, Mali’s military and security sources said.
The army said the attacks targeted Aguelhok, Anefis, and Gao in the north, Sevare in the central region, and Kenieroba in the south.
In a follow-up statement later in the day, it said 20 “terrorists” had been killed in Sevare and six in Gao, adding that the situation is now “totally under control”.
One pro-government fighter was also killed in Gao and four others injured, the army statement added.
The AFP news agency reported that a prison in Kenieroba, which is 74km from Bamako, was attacked, citing residents and security sources. It said the fighting in different locations started at about 5am local time (05:00 GMT).
A separatist Tuareg-led armed group confirmed that it had attacked one of the towns early on Saturday.
Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, a spokesperson for the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), told the Reuters news agency that fighters from the group attacked Anefis, which is in the northeastern Kidal region.
Government and Russian troops deployed in Anefis in the wake of attacks on April 25 and 26, in which the FLA and the regional al-Qaeda affiliate seized control of Kidal town.
Mali has previously faced rebellions by armed groups affiliated with al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS), as well as a separatist rebellion in the country’s north. The separatists have been fighting for years to create an independent state in northern Mali.
Insecurity is widespread despite promises from military leaders to stamp out the rebellion.
‘Explosions rang out’
Earlier on Saturday, FLA’s Ramadane told the AFP that “several positions have fallen, but fighting is still underway inside the city” of Anefis.
An Anefis resident contacted by AFP said “armed groups are in the town, but the army is still putting up resistance”.
Anefis and Aguelhok, both in the north, are reportedly the last remaining locations where Mali’s army maintains a presence in the Kidal region, following the April attacks, having previously been driven from Kidal town.
Meanwhile, in Gao, a local official told Reuters that gunfire and rockets had been launched at a military camp since before dawn. It was not immediately clear which fighters were responsible.
In Sevare, a central town, “explosions rang out … around 5am, though their origin is not yet known. Shortly thereafter, several aircraft were spotted flying over the area”, a security source told AFP.
A Sevare resident told Reuters that early morning gunfire was followed by four large explosions in the west of the city around 8am, with heavier detonations heard in the town around 10am.
In Kenieroba in the south, the major prison complex was also under attack, a prisoner in the facility told AFP. A diplomatic source and a security source told Reuters that security forces repelled the assailants. A government spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
Saturday’s assault was the latest threat to the military-led government in the landlocked Sahel country where rebels staged high-profile attacks in April, hitting the airport in the capital, Bamako, killing the defence minister and seizing a string of army bases in the north. More recently, armed groups have also carried out a fuel blockade, starving the capital’s residents and businesses of power and supplies.
