Dozens killed in attacks on passenger boat and military base in Mali

(Patria) - In attacks, suspected to be carried out by jihadists, on a military base and a passenger boat on the Niger River in northern Mali on Thursday, 64 people were killed, a Malian official said, AFP reports.

Two separate attacks targeted the 'Timbuktu' boat on the Niger River and a military position in
Bambi, in the northern Gao region, with "approximately 49 civilians and 15 soldiers killed," according to a government statement. It was not specified how many were killed in each attack, and the attacks were claimed by an Al-Qaeda-linked group.

Earlier, the Malian army announced on social media that the boat was attacked by
"armed terrorist groups." The boat, which was sailing on a regular route between cities along the river, was hit by "at least three rockets" that targeted its engines, said a Comanava operator. The boat is immobilized on the river, and the army is evacuating passengers, a Comanava official said.

The Niger River is a vital transport link in a region with poor road infrastructure and no railways. The attack followed the announcement last month by an Al-Qaeda-linked alliance, the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM), that it was blocking Timbuktu, a historic crossroads city in northern Mali.

The impoverished country has been struggling with instability since 2012, when an ethnic Tuareg rebellion broke out in the restless north. The rebellion was fueled by jihadists, who launched their own campaign in central Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso three years later. In northern Mali, the regional rebellion formally ended with a peace agreement signed between the rebels and the Malian government in 2015.

However, the fragile agreement has been under pressure since the civilian government was overthrown in 2020 and replaced by a junta. Tensions in the region have flared in recent weeks after the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali, which was told to leave the country by the end of the year, handed over two bases near Timbuktu to the armed forces.

The handover triggered clashes between the army and jihadists and led to confrontations with former rebels, raising fears for the 2015 peace agreement, AFP reports.