Africa-Press. Local residents reported that Malian forces regained control of a town on the border with Niger, which had been entered by armed groups linked to ISIS earlier this week, as part of efforts to reestablish control in the area following coordinated attacks over the weekend.
Two residents of the town of Menaka, near the Niger border, stated that ISIS fighters in the Sahel region retreated after clashes with the military, which resumed its ground and air patrols. A high-ranking diplomatic source also mentioned that the military regained control of the area.
In the Mopti region of central Mali, which experienced weekend attacks, calm returned on Wednesday, although a sense of anxiety and anticipation remained among the residents, according to one local. He added that the military intensified checkpoints and reinforced ground and air patrols around the city.
A resident of Gao, the largest city in northern Mali, reported an increase in military patrols as civilians prepared for further attacks. In the city of Sévaré in central Mali, tensions remained high on Wednesday, according to a witness who reported hearing gunfire during the night.
The Malian military leader, Assimi Goïta, made his first public appearance on Tuesday since armed groups linked to al-Qaeda and a coalition of separatists, mostly Tuaregs, launched their attack on Saturday, which resulted in the death of the defense minister and dealt a significant blow to the Russian mercenaries supporting the military.
Goïta vowed to neutralize those responsible for the Saturday attacks, which showed clear coordination between the al-Qaeda-linked militants and the Tuareg separatists, who seized the strategic town of Kidal from the Malian forces supported by Russia. He also met with the Russian ambassador on Tuesday and visited a hospital where the injured were receiving treatment.
