By Fadimata Kontao, Tiemoko Diallo and Idrissa Sangare
BAMAKO (Reuters) -Mali said on Tuesday that its capital Bamako was under control after insurgents attacked a gendarmerie training school and other areas before dawn, firing gunshots that reverberated around the city.
The capital was tense following the attack, with vigilante groups of youth patrolling the streets.
Reuters saw the charred remains of one body. People nearby said it was a cigarette seller, who had been set on fire by youths because he was wearing a bullet belt, making them suspect he was an attacker.
Authorities did not identify who they blamed for the pre-dawn attacks on strategic points in Bamako, but it was a rare case of unrest reaching the capital after years of armed conflict in the hinterlands between government forces and Islamist rebels.
“Early this morning, a group of terrorists attempted to infiltrate the Faladie gendarmerie school. Mopping-up operations are currently under way,” the army said in a statement.
The military government said “some sensitive points of the capital” had come under attack, including the training school in Faladie, a district on the southeastern outskirts of Bamako near the main international airport.
Reuters heard the gunfire from the Banankabougou neighbourhood near Faladie before sunrise. People heading to the mosque for morning prayers turned back as shots rang out.
A police official who did not wish to be identified said there were gunshots around the airport and a military base close to it. A security source said gunfire was heard in several neighbourhoods, including areas close to the main airport.
The military government said the army had pushed back the attackers and urged civilians to go about their daily business. The army said the capital was under control.
A video circulating on social media showed men in civilian clothing rounding up two young boys and forcing them to the ground. Reuters could not authenticate the footage.
Access to the airport was temporarily restricted to avert any risks, the transport ministry said in a statement, telling people there to remain calm. An airport employee said via telephone that everyone was being kept inside the building after gunfire abated.
LONG-RUNNING INSURGENCY
A security agent who did not want to give his name said the attack started around 0300 GMT. He suspected attackers had taken advantage of a Muslim holiday on Monday that brought an influx of worshippers to infiltrate the city.
Mali is one of several West African countries fighting an Islamist insurgency that took roots in Mali’s arid north in 2012 and has since spread across the Sahel and more recently to the north of coastal countries.
Thousands have been killed and millions displaced in the region amid the advance by militants, some of whom have links to al Qaeda and Islamic State, and military efforts to push them back. Governments and fighters have been accused of violence against civilians.
Frustration against the authorities for failing to restore security contributed to two coups in Mali – in 2020 and 2021 – followed by two in neighbouring Burkina Faso and one in Niger.
But jihadist attacks have escalated despite the juntas’ promises to improve security, in part by replacing alliances with Western countries with Russian support, including mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner private army.
Experienced Wagner fighters were killed at the end of July during a battle near the Algerian border between Tuareg rebels and the Malian army, which suffered heavy losses and was ambushed by jihadists as it withdrew.
It is however rare for insurgents to strike inside the capital. The last time a major attack took place in Bamako was in 2015, when armed men launched a dawn raid on the Radisson Blu hotel that killed 20 people.
(Reporting by Tiemoko Diallo, Fadimata Kontao and Idrissa Sangare in BamakoAdditional reporting by David Lewis and Bate FelixWriting by Sofia ChristensenEditing by Alexander Winning and Peter Graff)
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