Whoever is funding and equipping these jihadis is making them a more formidable force than the national militaries of several West African countries.

Mali’s government blamed an Islamic State affiliate for Sunday’s attack near the southern town of Tessit and raised the death toll to 42 soldiers.

It was one of the deadliest attacks in recent years for the Malian army, which has been battling a decade-long insurgency by militant groups that have spread across West Africa’s Sahel region.

“The Malian army units of Tessit ... reacted vigorously to a complex and coordinated attack by armed terrorist groups, presumably from Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), characterized by the use of drones, explosives, car bombs, and artillery,” the government said in a statement.

Soldiers killed 37 combatants during several hours of heavy fighting, it added. The army had previously said that 17 soldiers had been killed in the attack and that nine had gone missing.

Tessit is in the south near the border with Burkina Faso and Niger.  Burkina Faso’s military reported on Tuesday that 15 of its soldiers were killed in a double bomb attack. 

Mali is ruled by a military junta that overthrew the democratic government in 2020, in part over frustration at its failure to rein in the violence, but attacks have remained common.

An Al-Qaeda affiliate claimed an attack on the country’s main military base in late July.

In May, the UN peacekeeping force in Mali deployed two units to the area to respond to a spate of civilian killings.

A surge in attacks since early March by the Islamic State affiliate has left hundreds of civilians dead, according to official and military sources.

The region has long been a hotspot of jihadist and militia violence in West Africa.

Reuters