The Mali military junta confirmed this Sunday the death of his Minister of Defense, General Sadio Camarain an attack “cowardly terrorist“during Saturday’s jihadist and secessionist offensive against several cities in the country.
According to a statement from Malian governmentthe attackers detonated a car bombdriven by a suicide bomber, against Camara’s residence on the outskirts of Bamako and started a shootout; The general repelled the assault, neutralized several assailants and was seriously injured before dying in a hospital.
The explosion collapsed their home, causing other victims and destroying a nearby mosque in which faithful died. By order of the head of the military junta, Assimi GoitaCamara will receive state funeralswhich will be reported soon.
Military and family sources confirmed this Sunday to EFE the death of Camara and three of his relatives in an attack in Kate15 kilometers north of Bamako. This 47-year-old general is one of the main members of the military junta that runs Mali and participated in the coup d’état of 2020who overthrew the former president-elect Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.
This Saturday, the secessionist Azawad Liberation Front (ALF)which claims that northern region, and the Jihadist Group to Support Islam and Muslims (JNIM)an affiliate of Al Qaeda in the Sahel, launched a coordinated offensive in the north of the country that culminated with the taking of the strategic city of Kidal (north).
However, the JNIM carried out unilateral attacks against civilian headquarters and military barracks in Bamako, Mopti, Kati and other central cities, and attempted to assault the international airport of the malian capital.
He General Staff of the Malian Armed Forces reported after the offensive that “armed terrorist groups“They attacked several cities, but the Army repelled their advance,”neutralized“to hundreds of attackers and assured that the situation”is totally under control“.
In addition, he asked the population for calm, decreed a three day curfew in the district of Bamako with more checkpoints in the capital and its periphery, while school activities were suspended until next Wednesday in Katewhere the Minister of Defense was attacked.
Since 2020, Mali is governed by a military junta in a context of instability and prolonged violence, driven by Azawad secessionists and jihadist groups linked to Al Qaeda and to Islamic State (IS).
