Mali army says about 30 troops killed retaking Anefis

Mali's army chief said about 30 soldiers were killed in recent fighting to retake the northern town of Anefis from Al-Qaeda-linked jihadists and their Tuareg separatist allies.

General Jean Elysee Dao told Malian state TV that around 60 soldiers were also wounded, including serious cases.

The Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist group JNIM and the FLA, an ethnic-Tuareg separatist movement, seized Anefis on July 4 in a series of coordinated attacks in Mali. The insurgents did not capture a military camp in the town, where Malian soldiers and paramilitary fighters from Russia's Africa Corps remained until reinforcements arrived.

The army said Friday that it had retaken Anefis after nearly a week of fighting. The Malian military said it had taken out around 100 insurgents.

The Tuareg separatists said Saturday that they had caused the army and Russian paramilitaries heavy material and human losses during the battle. They also said they had lost some of their best fighters.

Anefis is about 100 kilometres, or 60 miles, from Kidal, a strategic city that rebels seized in an earlier assault in April. The source said that attack also killed Malian defence minister Sadio Camara.

Mali has been ruled by a military government since coups in 2020 and 2021. The junta has said it would restore security, but the country has continued to face jihadist and separatist unrest.