Triple suicide bombing in central Mali leaves several dead

Sevare, The Gulf Observer: At least nine civilians have been killed and over 60 injured in a triple suicide bomb attack in the central Mali town of Sevare, officials said.

“The blast(s) destroyed about 20 houses in the neighbourhood. There are a total of nine dead and about 60 wounded, all civilians,” Yacouba Maiga, a spokesman for the regional governor, told Reuters news agency by phone on Saturday.

Earlier, the West African country’s government said in a statement read on national television that “a terrorist attack” had been stopped by the army in Savare.

“Three vehicles filled with explosives were destroyed by army drone fire,” the statement said, without giving further details on casualties.

Images shared on social media showed several buildings, including a petrol station, destroyed by the blast, as well as injured people being given assistance. Reuters could not independently verify the images.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

The suicide bombing came days after militants linked with Al Qaeda attacked and killed the chief of staff of Mali’s junta leader.

Oumar Traore, chief of staff for Colonel Assimi Goita, the transitional president, was among several people who died in an ambush on Tuesday near the Mauritanian border, according to a document from the Malian presidency.

Traore was part of a team that was accompanying engineers to scout for sites to drill for water, who came under attack some 400 km north of the capital Bamako. The presidency said three others also died.

On Friday, Jama’at Nasr al Islam wal Muslimin [JNIM] claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it had killed Traore and two members of the army, according to a statement reported by SITE, which monitors militants websites. The group also claimed to have taken two hostages.

In the same statement, JNIM claimed to have carried out a separate attack on Wednesday that killed seven soldiers in an ambush between Sokolo and Farabougou in central Mali.

It said three of its own fighters were also killed in the attack, according to the SITE report.

The Malian army has not confirmed the incident.