{{Short description|Mali attack by jihadist insurgents}} {{Use American English|date=May 2025}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox battle | conflict = 2024 Bamako attacks | place = Faladie and Modibo Keita International Airport, Bamako, Mali | partof = Mali War | date = 17 September 2024 | result = Inconclusive * JNIM causes heavy losses in Malian troops and equipment * Malian forces quell attack | combatant1 = {{flagdeco|Mali}} Mali Armed Forces<br/>Mali Gendarmerie<br/>Wagner Group | combatant2 = {{flagdeco|ISIS}} Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin | strength2 = 10 (per JNIM) | strength1 = Unknown | casualties1 = 77-100 killed | casualties2 = 10 killed (per JNIM)<br/>20 killed or arrested (per Mali) | casualties3 = 1 UN personnel injured<br/>1 alleged militant lynched | image = Aéroport international Président Modibo Keita-Senou de Bamako la nuit 03.jpg | caption = Modibo Keita International Airport in 2023 | commander1 = Oumar Diarra | commander2 = Salman al-Bambari<br>Abdul-Salam al-Fulani }} {{Campaignbox Mali War}}
On 17 September 2024, gunmen from a cell of Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) attacked several locations across Bamako, the capital of Mali, including Malian Army and Wagner Group bases and Modibo Keita International Airport.<ref name="bbc">{{Cite web |last1=Chibelushi |first1=Wedaeli |last2=Njie |first2=Paul |date=17 September 2024 |title=Al-Qaeda-linked group says it was behind Mali attack |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce8d996x1r0o |access-date=17 September 2024 |website=BBC News |language=en}}</ref><ref name="barrons">{{Cite web |date=19 September 2024 |title=Jihadist Attacks In Mali Capital Killed More Than 70: Security Sources |url=https://www.barrons.com/news/jihadist-attacks-in-mali-capital-killed-more-than-70-security-sources-6d48c70a |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240919152417/https://www.barrons.com/news/jihadist-attacks-in-mali-capital-killed-more-than-70-security-sources-6d48c70a |archive-date=19 September 2024 |access-date=19 September 2024 |website=Barron's |language=en |agency=Agence France-Presse}}</ref> About 100 Malian soldiers and policemen were killed and more than 255 others were injured.<ref>{{Cite web |date=19 September 2024 |first=Eromo |last=Egbejule |title=Jihadist assault on Mali's capital killed scores of people, say security sources |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/19/jihadist-assault-on-mali-capital-bamako-killed-scores-of-people-say-security-sources |access-date=20 October 2024 |publisher=The Guardian and Agence France-Presse |language=en}}</ref>
==Background== Al-Qaeda aligned groups have waged an insurgency in central and northeastern Mali since 2012, and gaining steam in 2017 with the formation of Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin. Bamako, the Malian capital, had been attacked a few times in 2015 with the most notable being the Radisson Blu attack that killed 22.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=13 January 2025 |title=Danger at Senegal's Gates: The Jihadist Expansion toward Southwestern Mali {{!}} Hudson Institute |url=https://www.hudson.org/danger-senegals-gates-jihadist-expansion-toward-southwestern-mali#footNote5 |access-date=30 January 2025 |website=www.hudson.org |language=en}}</ref> Since then, no attacks have occurred in Bamako, although JNIM cells have expanded westward into Koulikoro Region and Sikasso Region since then.<ref name=":0" />
==Attacks== The attacks began in the early morning of 17 September 2024 at around 05:00,<ref name="f24">{{Cite web |title=Major jihadist attack in Mali's capital killed more than 70, security source says |url=https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20240919-major-jihadist-attack-in-mali-s-capital-killed-more-than-70-security-source-says-jnim-bamako-al-qaeda |access-date=20 September 2024 |website=France 24 |date=19 September 2024 |language=en |agency=Agence France-Presse}}</ref> when gunmen attacked several locations across Bamako including the Banankabougou neighborhood,<ref name="rfi">{{Cite web |title=Malian capital Bamako 'under control' after surprise Islamist attack |url=https://www.rfi.fr/en/africa/20240918-malian-capital-bamako-under-control-after-surprise-islamist-attack |access-date=20 September 2024 |website=Radio France Internationale |date=18 September 2024 |language=en |agency=Reuters |archive-date=20 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240920015057/https://www.rfi.fr/en/africa/20240918-malian-capital-bamako-under-control-after-surprise-islamist-attack |url-status=live }}</ref> the Faladie military police school<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Ahmed |first1=Baba |last2=Mednick |first2=Sam |last3=Banchereau |first3=Mark |title=Mali troops put down a deadly militant attack in the capital |url=https://apnews.com/article/mali-explosions-training-camp-attack-472f06bd7d2d9d2913252e9787f276f9 |access-date=20 September 2024 |website=Associated Press |date=17 September 2024 |language=en}}</ref> housing elite units of the Malian gendarmerie<ref name="lemonde">{{Cite news |last=Roger |first=Benjamin |date=18 September 2024 |title=Mali's capital hit by first major jihadist attack since junta came to power |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/en/le-monde-africa/article/2024/09/18/mali-s-capital-hit-by-first-major-jihadist-attack-since-junta-came-to-power_6726489_124.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240920023301/https://www.lemonde.fr/en/le-monde-africa/article/2024/09/18/mali-s-capital-hit-by-first-major-jihadist-attack-since-junta-came-to-power_6726489_124.html |archive-date=20 September 2024 |access-date=20 September 2024 |work=Le Monde |language=en}}</ref> in the southeast of Bamako, and the nearby military airport,<ref name="rfi" /> which the JNIM claimed to have fully taken.<ref name="bbc" /> The attacks prompted the closure of Modibo Keita International Airport, which adjoins the military airport and a Wagner Group base located there,<ref>{{Cite news |date=18 September 2024 |title=Au Mali, Bamako subit sa première attaque djihadiste d'ampleur depuis l'accession au pouvoir de la junte |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2024/09/18/au-mali-bamako-subit-sa-premiere-attaque-djihadiste-d-ampleur-depuis-l-accession-au-pouvoir-de-la-junte_6322449_3212.html |access-date=30 January 2025 |language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Jihadist attack in Mali capital killed more than 70: security sources |url=https://www.rfi.fr/en/international-news/20240919-jihadist-attack-in-mali-capital-killed-more-than-70-security-sources |access-date=20 September 2024 |website=RFI |date=19 September 2024 |language=en |agency=Agence France-Presse |archive-date=20 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240920172313/https://www.rfi.fr/en/international-news/20240919-jihadist-attack-in-mali-capital-killed-more-than-70-security-sources |url-status=live }}</ref> while clashes were also reported at a police station controlling access to the former.<ref name="bbc" />
JNIM fighters released videos destroying six aircraft, including two Casa C-295 of the Malian Air Force, and one video showing a militant setting fire to the engine of the presidential jet.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |date=18 September 2024 |title=Au Mali, de nombreuses interrogations persistent au lendemain des attaques à Bamako |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2024/09/18/au-mali-de-nombreuses-interrogations-persistent-au-lendemain-des-attaques-a-bamako_6322945_3212.html |access-date=30 January 2025 |language=fr}}</ref> In their statement claiming responsibility for the attack, JNIM stated that it destroyed a drone, planes, and several armored vehicles.<ref name=":1" /> An aircraft used for humanitarian work by the World Food Programme was also damaged on the ground.<ref name="aj">{{Cite web |date=20 September 2024 |title=Attack by al-Qaeda linked group in Mali killed more than 70 people |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/9/20/attack-by-al-qaeda-linked-group-in-mali-killed-more-than-70-people |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240920044823/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/9/20/attack-by-al-qaeda-linked-group-in-mali-killed-more-than-70-people |archive-date=20 September 2024 |access-date=20 September 2024 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en |agency=Agence France-Presse}}</ref>
In Faladie, government forces quickly quelled the attack, although at the airport clashes lasted for nine hours.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="ajknow">{{Cite web |last=Lawal |first=Shola |date=20 September 2024 |title=More than 70 killed in Mali attack: What happened, why it matters |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/9/20/more-than-70-killed-in-mali-attack-what-happened-why-it-matters |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240920221555/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/9/20/more-than-70-killed-in-mali-attack-what-happened-why-it-matters |archive-date=20 September 2024 |access-date=21 September 2024 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}}</ref> Chief of Staff Oumar DIarra visited Faladie later that day and stated all JNIM fighters had been killed or captured.<ref name="ajknow" />
==Casualties== Malian junta authorities did not release a death toll, only acknowledging "some loss of human life."<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=18 September 2024 |title=Mali: incertitudes sur le bilan de la double attaque jihadiste de Bamako |url=https://www.rfi.fr/fr/afrique/20240918-mali-incertitudes-sur-le-bilan-de-la-double-attaque-jihadiste-de-bamako |access-date=30 January 2025 |website=RFI |language=fr}}</ref> At least twenty people were arrested by Malian forces in connection to the attack, but JNIM stated that the arrested weren't affiliated with them. One of the detainees was lynched and his body burned by a crowd.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Melly |first=Paul |date=20 September 2024 |title=Jihadist airport assault leaves Mali's junta rattled |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz04ryym45eo |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240921000117/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz04ryym45eo |archive-date=21 September 2024 |access-date=21 September 2024 |website=BBC News |language=en}}</ref>
JNIM, in their statement claiming responsibility, stated that the attack left several hundred people dead or wounded and caused "heavy losses to Wagner's mercenaries."<ref name=":1" /> JNIM stated around ten fighters took part in the attack and all were killed.<ref name=":1" /> Salman al-Bambari was reported by JNIM to have led the assault on the gendarmerie school with two teams of inghimasi, while Abdul-Salam al-Fulani led the assault on the airport.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Analysis: Al Qaeda strikes the Malian capital|url=https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2024/09/analysis-al-qaeda-strikes-the-malian-capital.php|website=FDD's Long War Journal|date=2024-09-18|access-date=2025-12-02|language=en-US|first=Caleb|last=Weiss}}</ref>
According to civilian and military sources interviewed by RFI, over seventy people were killed during the attacks, including 20 at the air base. 200 Malian gendarmes and soldiers were wounded as well.<ref>{{Cite web |date=19 September 2024 |title=Mali: le Jnim a fait plus de 70 morts lors de la double attaque jihadiste du 17 septembre à Bamako |url=https://www.rfi.fr/fr/afrique/20240919-mali-le-jnim-li%C3%A9-%C3%A0-al-qa%C3%AFda-a-fait-plus-de-70-morts-lors-de-la-double-attaque-du-17-septembre-%C3%A0-bamako?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=x&utm_source=shorty&utm_slink=rfi.my/AyK6 |access-date=30 January 2025 |website=RFI |language=fr}}</ref> ''Le Monde'' reported that at the gendarmerie school in Faladie, over sixty gendarme students were killed.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Vidéo. Attaque terroriste à Bamako : les images vérifiées par « Le Monde » montrent une opération préparée et meurtrière |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/video/2024/09/18/attaque-terroriste-a-bamako-les-images-verifiees-par-le-monde-montrent-une-operation-preparee-et-meurtriere_6323140_3212.html |access-date=30 January 2025 |work=Le Monde.fr |language=fr-FR}}</ref> That same day, Agence France-Presse reported a toll of 77 killed and 255 injured, with one officer stating over a hundred people were killed, with a list of 81 names.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=19 September 2024 |title=Mali: plus de 70 morts dans les attaques djihadistes à Bamako |url=https://www.lefigaro.fr/international/mali-plus-de-70-morts-dans-les-attaques-djihadistes-a-bamako-20240919 |access-date=30 January 2025 |website=Le Figaro |language=fr}}</ref> Malian daily newspaper ''Le Soir de Bamako'' announced the funerals of over fifty student gendarmes.<ref name=":3" /> One UN security personnel was injured.<ref>{{Cite web |date=19 September 2024 |title=UN chief strongly condemns Mali terrorist attack |url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/09/1154551 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240926025611/https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/09/1154551 |archive-date=26 September 2024 |access-date=20 September 2024 |website=UN News |language=en}}</ref>
At least ten Wagner soldiers were killed in the attack, according to a Malian military source.<ref>{{Cite news |date=23 September 2024 |title=Au Mali, l'armée et le Groupe Wagner manœuvrent dans la région de Kidal |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2024/09/23/au-mali-l-armee-et-le-groupe-wagner-man-uvrent-dans-la-region-de-kidal_6330122_3212.html?lmd_medium=al&lmd_campaign=envoye-par-appli&lmd_creation=android&lmd_source=default |access-date=30 January 2025 |language=fr}}</ref>
==Reactions== The attacks were condemned by multiple countries and organizations including the United Nations, the African Union, ECOWAS, the World Food Programme, Senegal, France and the United Kingdom.<ref name="aj" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Mali: ECOWAS condemns attack on Bamako, reiterates commitment to work for peace |url=https://www.agenzianova.com/en/news/mali-la-cedeao-condanna-lattacco-a-bamako-ribadito-limpegno-a-lavorare-per-la-pace/ |access-date=20 September 2024 |website=Agenzia Nova |date=18 September 2024 |language=en |archive-date=20 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240920175459/https://www.agenzianova.com/en/news/mali-la-cedeao-condanna-lattacco-a-bamako-ribadito-limpegno-a-lavorare-per-la-pace/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
Criticism of the attacks within Mali was limited due to severe restrictions on freedom of expression by the ruling military junta, with the exception of a few media outlets such as the Senegalese newspaper ''Nouvel Horizon'', which wrote that it was "time to apportion blame at all levels".<ref name="f24" /> On 19 September, Abdoulaye Coulibaly, the governor of Bamako, ordered the indefinite closure of seven livestock markets in the city for "reasons of public order", raising concerns that it was being used to target members of the Fulani ethnic group, who operate most of the markets and are accused of supporting Islamist militants due to high membership rates in the said groups.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Ahmed |first1=Baba |last2=Banchereau |first2=Mark |date=20 September 2024 |title=Mali officials close livestock markets over suspected links to militants |url=https://apnews.com/article/mali-livestock-market-alqaida-attack-7dd2a6454a7048d66d67963f87a74fc0 |access-date=21 September 2024 |website=Associated Press |language=en |archive-date=20 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240920230428/https://apnews.com/article/mali-livestock-market-alqaida-attack-7dd2a6454a7048d66d67963f87a74fc0 |url-status=live }}</ref>
On 24 September, Mali's military leader Assimi Goïta held a meeting with the country's defense establishment to review security arrangements and "adjust strategy". Goita also paid tribute to the victims of the attack, adding that it showed "the imperative need to remain vigilant and maintain an exemplary operational stance in all circumstances".<ref>{{Cite web |date=24 September 2024 |title=Mali Junta Chief Reviews Strategy After Massacre By Jihadists |url=https://www.barrons.com/news/mali-junta-chief-reviews-strategy-after-massacre-by-jihadists-e6bad218 |access-date=25 September 2024 |website=Barron's |language=en |archive-date=26 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240926025612/https://www.barrons.com/news/mali-junta-chief-reviews-strategy-after-massacre-by-jihadists-e6bad218 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Jean-Herve Jezequel, Sahel project director at the International Crisis Group, said that one possible reason for the attack could be that "the jihadists are trying to send a message to the Malian authorities that they can hit them anywhere and therefore that the big cities must also be protected". He said the militants may want to force Mali to concentrate its resources in areas where more people live and deploy fewer troops in rural areas where the jihadists have their strongholds.<ref name="f24" />
In neighboring Burkina Faso, the government banned the Voice of America from broadcasting in the country for three months starting in October 2024, citing a journalist calling the attack in Bamako "courageous" among other reasons.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Burkina Faso: Military Junta suspends Voice of America |url=https://www.africanews.com/2024/10/08/burkina-faso-military-junta-suspends-voice-of-america/ |access-date=8 October 2024 |website=Africanews |date=8 October 2024 |language=en}}</ref>
==See also== * War in the Sahel * 2024 Barsalogho attack * List of terrorist incidents in 2024 * List of Islamist terrorist attacks
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{Militant Islamism in Sub-Saharan Africa}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bamako attacks, 2024}} Category:2024 fires in Africa Category:2024 mass shootings in Africa Category:2024 murders in Mali Category:21st-century mass murders in Mali Category:Arson in 2024 Category:Building and structure arson attacks in Mali Category:Bamako in the Mali War Category:Islamic terrorist incidents in 2024 Category:2024 mass murders Category:September 2024 crimes in Africa Category:September 2024 in Mali Category:Sieges of the Mali War Category:Spree shootings in Mali Category:Terrorist incidents attributed to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb Category:Arson deaths Category:Terrorist incidents in Mali in 2024 Category:Attacks on military installations in 2024 Category:Attacks on military installations in Mali Category:Terrorist attacks on airports in Africa Category:Attacks on air bases Category:Attacks on schools in Africa Category:Attacks on schools in 2024 Category:Al-Qaeda attacks