Mali, Burkina Faso kill 41 suspected terrorists: Officials

By Ilayda Cakirtekin

ISTANBUL (AA) - Forty-one suspected terrorists were killed in Mali and Burkina Faso in the last three days, officials said Thursday.

The Burkina Faso military said it killed 11 terrorists and captured two in the Nayala province of Boucle du Mouhoun region in the western Sahel state.

The armed forces also seized weapons and equipment, according to the state-run news agency.

It said the operation was led by the 23rd Rapid Intervention Battalion which had been fighting terror groups within the region since December.

The Malian Armed Forces said separately Wednesday that the joint force of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) killed around 30 terrorists, including cadres and several fighters Tuesday in an airstrike.

The strike destroyed a major volume of logistics of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), a terror group affiliated with Daesh/ISIS, around the eastern Menaka region of eastern Mali, bordering the Tahoua region of Niger.

Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger formed the Alliance of Sahel States in September 2023 and formally withdrew Wednesday from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) regional bloc.

The troika of West African nations have also decided to deploy a joint force of 5,000 soldiers to tackle growing security challenges posed by terror groups in the region.