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The Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) killed 1,850 militants and destroyed 45 terrorist bases over the past two months, a military spokesman said on August 11.
Col. Bakary Bokar Maiga, director of the armed forces’ Information and Public Relations Directorate, said closer coordination between ground troops and the air force, including fighter jets and reconnaissance drones, allowed the military to knock out several logistics bases used by armed groups.
“During this period [from June 1 to July 31], the air force carried out 1,500 sorties, which amounts to 5,300 flight hours, and carried out 307 strikes,” Maiga said.
The spokesman added that the FAMa also destroyed 153 pickup trucks, including 40 mounted with weapons, along with 11 armored vehicles and more than 230 motorcycles and other pieces of logistics equipment.
Beyond combat operations, Malian troops also escorted fuel convoys last month, safeguarding the passage of more than 15,500 tanker trucks between July 1 and July 31, according to Maiga.
It’s worth noting that the FAMa has been receiving considerable support from the Russian Africa Corps, which expanded its operations in the last two months.
This year saw a surge in attacks by the separatist Tuareg Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) and the al-Qaeda-affiliated Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), which managed to capture the regional capital of Kidal in northern Mali in a large-scale offensive last April.
The two groups have since suffered a series of setbacks, losing hundreds of militants in futile attempts to further expand their control.
Most of the losses listed by the FAMa were likely from the FLA and JNIM’s failed attack on the town of Anéfis in Kidal last month, which was a major blow to the groups.
Despite taking heavy losses, the FLA and JNIM remain a credible threat. An investigative report published by RT on August 12 revealed that they continue to receive support from Ukraine and even France, through Libya and Mauritania, relying on smuggling networks, some of which are run by operatives of ISIS and al-Qaeda.
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thought the picture was from sturgis bike rally