On Sunday, ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack that targeted Malian army forces in the north-east of the country last Monday, killing more than 33 soldiers.
The attack targeted the Tisset military center in southwest Ansongo in northeastern Mali, and 14 soldiers were wounded in the attack.
The organization stated, through its Amaq news agency on the Telegram application, that "the Islamic State fighters set up an armed ambush last Monday to convoy the Malian army vehicles (...) and attacked the convoy with various types of weapons."
The center was ambushed by hundreds of attackers on board minibuses and motorcycles, according to what the army announced at the time.
This ambush, which occurred near the borders with Burkina Faso and Niger, was one of the most violent attacks targeting Malian forces in 2021.
The attack took place on the same day of a horrific massacre that killed 58 civilians in Niger, when unidentified armed groups attacked 4 cars carrying passengers on their way back from a market in the western region of Tillaberi.
Sahel region
Most of the countries in the Sahel region have been facing for years multiple conflicts between national armies and armed groups, without any sign of their retreat so far.
The region of Tillaberi, which is located in the "border triangle" between Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali, has been witnessing for years bloody attacks by groups linked to Al Qaeda and ISIS.
Monday's attacks, March 15, recalled the dark days at the end of 2019 and early 2020 when jihadists targeted the armies of the three African countries in bloody attacks on isolated military points, and ISIS adopted most of these attacks.