Mali’s security situation remained unclear on Wednesday after insurgents attacked an elite police training academy and other strategic areas on Tuesday, killing trainees, overrunning part of the airport and setting the presidential jet alight.
Analysts and diplomats described the attack as a major blow to the junta and regional bloc ECOWAS and the European Union issued statements condemning it.
Mali has not confirmed the death toll, but said on state television on Tuesday evening that there had been “some” deaths.
A video that circulated online showed sleeping quarters with around two dozen bunk beds in tight formation that had been torched. Several charred bodies can be seen, some under the beds. Reuters has not authenticated the videos.
Flights resumed on Wednesday morning to Bamako’s main airport, where much of the violence – claimed by Al Qaeda affiliate Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM) – took place a day earlier.
(Editor: Oloyede Oworu)