Mali: l'armée abandonne des positions dans la région de Gao (nord)
The Malian army has abandoned some of its positions in the Gao region (north), local sources told AFP on Tuesday, as Mali is plunged deeper into instability than ever after unprecedented attacks carried out across the country on Saturday by armed groups targeting the ruling junta.
Gao is the second military region of Mali after the garrison town of Kati, a stronghold of the junta located near Bamako and which was the scene of violent fighting on Saturday and Sunday between the army and armed groups.
"The military abandoned their position in Labbezanga, located near the Niger border. They retreated towards Ansogo," a local elected official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
A resident of the town also confirmed the departure of Malian troops from Labbezanga.
Mali is plunged into a critical security situation after this series of coordinated attacks launched by jihadists from the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM, allied with Al-Qaeda) and the Tuareg independence rebellion of the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA).
The abandonment by the Malian army of some of its positions in Gao comes as the key city of Kidal (north) has once again fallen into the hands of armed groups.
Kidal was under the control of rebel groups for several decades before returning to the fold of the Malian state in November 2023, thanks to an offensive by the army supported by fighters from the Russian paramilitary group Wagner (which has since become Africa Corps).
The ultimate goal of the armed groups remains unclear at the moment.
But according to Malian Prime Minister Abdoulaye Maïga, "the enemy's goal was to seize power by dismantling the institutions of the Republic."
These unprecedented attacks place the Malian junta in a critical and unprecedented situation since the 2020 coup: Defense Minister Sadio Camara has been killed, and General Assimi Goïta, head of the junta, has not been seen and has not spoken since the start of hostilities on Saturday morning.
They also cast doubt on the junta's ability to deal with the threats from armed groups and undermine its rhetoric, which until now claimed that its strategy of rupture, its new foreign partnerships and its increased military effort had made it possible to reverse the trend against radical Islamist fighters.
On Tuesday morning, gunfire was heard in the town of Menaka, located in northeastern Mali, AFP learned.
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