By Staff Reporter
Several casualties have been reported after a Malian army convoy was ambushed by armed rebels in northern Mali on Saturday, according to military and security sources.
The convoy was travelling from the strategic town of Anefis to Gao when it came under attack near Tabankort. Military officials said fierce fighting erupted after the convoy was caught in what they described as a well-planned ambush.
“Our convoy leaving Anefis for Gao was attacked this morning near Tabankort. The fighting is ongoing. It is an ambush,” a military source based in Gao told AFP.
A representative of the Tuareg separatist group, the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), also confirmed the attack.
Security officials, speaking anonymously, said the Malian army suffered significant losses, although part of the convoy managed to continue its journey toward Gao.
“There are many casualties,” a local official said, without providing an exact death toll.
The FLA released images claiming to show dozens of captured Malian soldiers, although the authenticity of the images has not been independently verified.
The latest attack comes weeks after fierce clashes in Anefis, where Tuareg separatists and the Al-Qaeda-linked militant group Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) briefly seized the town on July 4.
According to the Malian military, the fighting left around 30 soldiers dead and approximately 60 others injured before government forces, supported by Russian Africa Corps paramilitaries, recaptured Anefis on July 10 following several days of intense combat.
Mali has been battling a jihadist insurgency and separatist violence since 2012, with insecurity continuing to affect large parts of the country’s northern and central regions despite repeated military operations.
