BAMAKO — A Tuareg-led insurgent group claimed responsibility Saturday for attacking a northern Mali town where both government soldiers and Russian paramilitary forces are stationed, while residents in two additional locations across northern and central Mali reported hearing gunfire and explosions.
The violence represents the most recent challenge to Mali’s military-led government in the landlocked West African nation. Rebels had already carried out high-profile strikes in April, targeting the airport in the capital city of Bamako, killing the country’s defense minister, and seizing a series of army outposts in the north.
Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, a spokesperson for the Azawad Liberation Front, known as the FLA, told Reuters that fighters from the organization attacked the town of Anefis in the northeastern Kidal region during the early morning hours Saturday. Government forces and Russian troops had moved into Anefis following the April offensive, during which the FLA and a regional al Qaeda-linked group took control of Kidal town.
Meanwhile, in the central city of Gao, a local official reported that gunfire and rockets had been directed at a military camp starting before sunrise Saturday. Authorities had not yet determined which armed group was behind that attack.
A government spokesperson had not responded to a request for comment as of the time of reporting.
