Al Qaeda Network Militant Attack At Police Academy And Mali Airport Kills 70 People

UNSPLASH/aboo ILLUSTRATION IN VESARAN

JAKARTA - A massive attack carried out by Al Qaeda network affiliates in the capital Mali this week killed about 70 people.

Militants attacked the elite police and airport training academy on Tuesday, September 17, demonstrating their ability to attack the heart of the capital Mali. The country is battling insurgency that took place more than a decade ago in a arid northern region.

The scale of the attack further undermined the claim that the ruling security junta had improved since the junta expelled French and US troops and turned to Russia for security.

Two diplomats on duty in the region, including one based in Bamako, said the death toll was believed to be 70 people.

Reuters was unable to independently verify these figures.

The region-based third diplomat said hundreds of people were believed to have died and were injured, and hospitals ran out of beds to treat survivors.

Since the conflict in Mali erupted, violence has spread to neighboring countries in the Sahel region and reached northern coastal countries. Thousands of people were killed and millions displaced in the region, and some fighters allied with Al Qaeda or ISIS.

The attack on Tuesday was claimed by Al Qaeda affiliate Jama'a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM).

The ruling junta in Mali said it suffered a number of losses, without providing further details. Mali newspaper reported the funeral of about 50 police cadets on Thursday, September 19.

The attack was recorded in a video published on social media showing rebels burning presidential jets and bodies at the police academy.