By RFIPalled on 03-18-2019 Modified on 18-03-2019 at 04:58

The record of the attack of a camp of the Malian army in the center of the country is heavy. 21 Malian soldiers killed, wounded and missing. In a statement, the Malian Armed Forces accused an army deserter of leading the so-called "terrorist" operation. This is former Colonel Ba Ag Moussa, aka Bamoussa Diarra, who joined the ranks of armed groups in 2012, close to the jihadist Iyad Ag Ghali, head of the GSIM, the Support Group for Islam and Muslims.

Dozens of armed men, who came by motorcycle and car, stormed Dioura's military camp Sunday at dawn, killing more than 20 Malian soldiers, according to local officials. It took several hours of combat, air and ground reinforcements, for the Malian army to regain control of the Dioura base.

It is therefore a major attack that was conducted Sunday , coordinated by one of the right arms of Iyad Ag Ghali, former Colonel Bamoussa Diarra. According to the leader of a local group committed against terrorism, he divides his time between Kidal and the Nara circle where he trains fighters.

Deserter of the army

On the ground, ex-colonel Bamoussa Diarra, quarantine, is what is called in the army "a grenadier-fielder", a soldier trained in fighting techniques, always on the front line. Deserter of the regular army in 2006 before returning to the ranks, he leaves again the forces in 2012, to rally the coalition of the armed groups opposed to the regular troops Malian.

He is at the head of the attacks of several localities of the north: Aguelhok, Ménaka, Tessalit and Kidal in particular. Localities he knows well for serving under the national flag. He is close to Iyad Ag Ghali, Islamist leader of the group Ansardine, who then takes the head of the GSIM, the Support Group for Islam and Muslims . The two men, originally from the Kidal region, were for a moment militarily trained in Libya.

From North to the Center

But it is not only in the north that ex-colonel Bamoussa Diarra operates: he is suspected of having in the past carried out operations against the army in the localities of Niono, Diabaly, and even Nara, not far of the Mauritanian border. Taking the lead of operations this Sunday in Dioura, a central town, far from his traditional stronghold, he may have wanted to confirm that everything that happens in central Mali is decided in the far north.

The attackers of Dioura have also benefited from the support of men from Kidal. " So it would be joint action, with capacity building coming from the outside, " said Baba Dakono, a researcher at the Institute for Security Studies.

In any case, it is the most important complex attack that the Center has known. It comes as anti-terrorist operations intensify in Mali. The French force Barkhane has increased in recent months the air raids in the region. And last week, the Malian government issued a decree for the establishment of battalions of special anti-terrorist units.

    On the same subject

    Mali: very heavy toll of the attack against the army in Dioura

    Mali: deadly attack against the Malian army in Dioura

    Kamissa Camara, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mali

    comments