West African regional bloc condemns terror attack in breakaway member Mali

By Oumar Sankare

BAMAKO, Mali (AA) - The regional bloc of West African nations Wednesday “strongly” condemned terrorist attacks against military installations in Bamako, the capital of Mali, which broke from the group last year.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) “presents its sincere condolences to the government and people of the Republic of Mali, as well as to the families of the victims,” the bloc said in a statement released from Abuja in Nigeria.

The military administration in the West African nation of Mali early Tuesday foiled a “terror” attack on Faladie Gendarmerie School, a training unit for security personnel in Bamako, officials said.

Officials in Mali, a member of the ECOWAS breakaway group known as the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), are yet to confirm any casualties from the attack.

Jama’at Nusrat Al-Islam Wal-Muslimin (JNIM), a group said to be linked to the al-Qaeda terror group, has reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack.

ECOWAS “wishes to reaffirm its strong condemnation of any terrorist attack which threatens the peace and security of the populations of the West African region.”

Video footage from the gunfire site showed local residents apprehending "terrorists" and handing them over to the Malian soldiers.

The Malian military administration Tuesday also shut down Bamako International Airport where services were restored late in the day.

The attack in Mali comes a day after top diplomats of the AES met in Bamako where they “strongly condemned the intervention, now assumed by certain foreign state sponsors who shelter, maintain and support terrorist gangs.”

“As such, they denounced Ukraine's active and publicly claimed support for the terrorist groups who attacked the town of Tinzawatene in Mali," said a statement released on Monday as the AES commemorated its first anniversary.

Earlier, Ukraine has rejected similar accusations.

Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger are three junta-ruled nations that formed the AES last year on Sept. 16, and later announced the creation of a joint military force to counter spiraling security challenges posed in their countries by terror groups.

The three West African nations withdrew from the ECOWAS, which had threatened to intervene militarily in Niger following a coup in that country last year in July.

The three countries, with a combined population of 72 million, are affected by instability caused by militant groups.

In July this year, the leaders of the three military regimes held their first joint summit in the Nigerien capital Niamey, where they announced a confederation of three Sahel states.

However, the ECOWAS Wednesday extended an olive branch to the AES reiterating its “firm commitment to any initiative aimed at working for peace, security and stability in the sub-region.”

Meanwhile, the EU diplomatic mission in Bamako also "strongly" condemned the terrorist attack and expressed "condolences to the relatives of the victims and wishes a speedy recovery to the injured."

*Writing by Riyaz ul Khaliq in Istanbul