‘No one is safe’: Civilians, foreigners caught in escalating Mali violence

The Kayes region, which borders Senegal and is vital to Mali’s economy, had remained largely untouched by the violence from armed groups that has rocked the country for several decades.

But that changed when armed men waged a string of coordinated attacks on military installations in several Malian towns last week, after which the country’s armed forces launched a counterattack that it said killed 80 fighters.The uptick in violent clashes between armed fighters and the Malian army – who are being assisted by Russian paramilitaries known as the Africa Corps – comes as the country’s political future looks murky, experts say, with the military-led government seemingly determined to permanently extend its rule.

For more than a decade, Mali has faced rebellions from separatist movements and armed fighters, including the two most active groups – ISIL affiliate, the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), and al-Qaeda-linked Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM).

JNIM claimed responsibility for last Tuesday’s attacks, which Malian officials said targeted seven major towns in the west and centre: Kayes, Nioro du Sahel, Niono, Molodo, Sandare, Gogui and Diboli.

The group did not list any human or material casualties, but its leader Iyad Ag Ghali said JNIM had taken total control of three enemy barracks and dozens of military positions.

At the same time, during the attack on Kayes town, three Indian nationals working at a cement factory were forcibly taken by gunmen as “hostages”, the Indian foreign ministry said on Wednesday, in an incident that could risk escalating the crisis beyond Africa’s Sahel.