Militants and separatists launch coordinated attacks across Mali

Al-Qaida-linked group JNIM claims responsibility for strikes on airport in capital, Bamako and four other cities Islamic militants and separatists attacked several locations in Mali’s capital and other cities on Saturday in one of the largest coordinated attacks in the country in recent years. The al-Qaida-linked militant group JNIM claimed responsibility for the attacks on Bamako’s international airport and four other cities in central and northern Mali on its website, Az-Zallaqa. It said the attacks were carried out jointly with the Azawad Liberation Front, a Tuareg-led separatist group. Mali has previously faced insurgencies fought by affiliates of al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, as well as a separatist rebellion in the north. The Malian army said in a statement that “unidentified armed terrorist groups targeted certain locations and barracks” in Bamako and that soldiers were “engaged in eliminating the attackers”. It said in a later statement the situation was under control. An Associated Press journalist in Bamako heard sustained heavy weapons and automatic rifle gunfire coming from Modibo Keïta international airport, about 9 miles (15km) from the city centre, and saw a