Insurgents lynched following attack on gendarmerie training school in Mali
BAMAKO – Mali said on Tuesday that its capital Bamako was under control after insurgents attacked a gendarmerie training school and other strategic areas before dawn, firing gunshots that reverberated around the city.
Al Qaeda affiliate Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM) claimed responsibility for the attack.
The attacks on several points in Bamako were a rare case of unrest reaching the capital after years of armed conflict in the hinterlands between government forces and Islamist rebels.
After the shooting subsided, the capital was tense, with vigilante groups of youth patrolling the streets. The charred remains of one body could be seen. People nearby said it was a cigarette seller set on fire by youths because he was wearing a bullet belt, making them suspect he was an attacker.
Videos circulated online showing an armed insurgent setting the engine of an aircraft on fire. The official-looking jet on the tarmac was emblazoned with the words “Republic of Mali.” Another video showed a gunman firing several machine gun rounds in an empty airport hall. A third showed smoke billowing from an airport hangar.
Access to the airport was temporarily restricted to avert any risks, the transport ministry said, telling people there to remain calm. The restriction was later lifted.
“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.
Army chief General Oumar Diarra visited the school in the aftermath and told journalists the “complex attack” was now under control and fighters who infiltrated had been “neutralised”.
Later on Tuesday evening, the army said in a statement that the attack led to “some deaths” including cadets of the gendarme academy. It did not give an exact number.
Via Reuters