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Gunfire was heard early Friday near a key military base near the Malian capital, according to local journalists and residents, although the cause of the explosions was not immediately clear.
A local resident, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said “at around 5:00 am, unidentified armed men attacked Kati,” a town on the edge of the Malian capital Bamako where a large military base is located.
“We were woken up at five o’clock by firing, by explosions, we don’t know what’s going on,” another resident said.
Another source told AFP, “Our base is being attacked.”
At 8am local time, an AFP journalist also heard detonations that came from inside the camp.
Malian special forces personnel were deployed in the area, and two helicopters flew overhead.
The French embassy sent text messages to French nationals saying “attack underway at Kati” and urging caution.
The local authorities in Kati could not be immediately reached for comment.
Military base at heart of past coups
The Kati base is the nexus of the Mali’s military apparatus. The base was the site of mutinies in 2012 and 2020 that led to successful coups,
The impoverished landlocked country is governed by a junta headed by Colonel Assimi Goita, who forced out the elected president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, in August 2020 and carried out a second coup the following May.
The junta staged a second coup in 2021 to force out a civilian interim president who was at odds with Goita.
Goita then became interim president. He plans to continue to lead a transitional government until elections are held in 2024.
His government has sparred repeatedly with neighbouring countries and international powers over election delays, alleged army abuses and cooperation with Russian mercenaries in the fight against the Islamist insurgency.
Despite coming to power pledging to stamp out the insurrection, the junta has been unable to prevent the insurgents from extending their operations further south from their havens in the north and centre.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP and Reuters)
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