Dozens of militants killed in Mali army base battle
Malian forces have killed more than 50 terrorists and wounded several others while repelling a large-scale attack on an army base in the central city of San, the Sahel state’s military has said.
The assault began early Sunday morning, when fighters from Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), an Al-Qaeda affiliate, and the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) attacked the base of the Malian Army’s 23rd Infantry Regiment, according to an official statement on Tuesday.
The Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) said the militants used heavy machine guns, kamikaze drones, payload-dropping drones, and two armored vehicles, one of which breached the base’s perimeter wall.
“The vigorous and coordinated response of the defending units made it possible to repel the assaults, neutralize several terrorists who had infiltrated the base, and restore control of the facility,” FAMa stated.
The military acknowledged that Malian soldiers were killed and others injured in the clashes but did not provide figures.
Since 2020, a wave of military coups has reshaped politics across the Sahel region in Africa, toppling civilian governments in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger.
France, once the region’s dominant external power, has steadily lost influence amid rising anti-French sentiment and deep frustration over insecurity, economic stagnation, and foreign interference. The former colonial power was forced to withdraw troops from Mali in 2022, Burkina Faso in 2023, Niger later that year, and Chad in early 2025.
About 4,500 soldiers had been deployed under Operation Barkhane, France’s largest overseas mission, across Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Chad – a campaign that the military governments in Bamako, Niamey, and Ouagadougou have said only permitted Islamist insurgents to expand their activities.
The three West African states have established the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) and withdrawn from the International Organization of Francophone Nations (OIF) operating in Francophone countries, many of them former French colonies. The AES has forged new alliances, including with Russia, which its leaders hail as a more reliable economic and security partner.
In an earlier statement on Sunday, FAMa said its troops, backed by partners, had struck militant positions near Abeibara in the Kidal Region, Razelma in the Timbuktu Region, and northwest of Mahou in the Koutiala Region over the weekend.
Africa Corps, a Russian Defense Ministry unit providing counterterrorism support in Mali, also published photographs and videos on Monday that documented the fighting and its aftermath. Some of the images purported to show the bodies of militants killed near San.
The army said armed vehicles, drones, and motorcycles belonging to the militants were destroyed. A group accused of participating in the San attack was later located 17 km from the city, pursued and killed, according to the statement. Some of its equipment was reportedly destroyed and the rest recovered.
In one post, Africa Corps said a Lancet loitering munition had destroyed a fuel depot used by the JNIM-FLA coalition. In an earlier video posted before Bamako’s official statement, Lieutenant Colonel El Oumrani, commander of the 23rd Regiment, said troops had killed more than 40 attackers and retained control of the base.
Last month, Malian troops backed by Russia’s Africa Corps retook the strategic northern town of Anefis after nearly a week of fighting with JNIM and FLA forces.
