Gunmen carried out attacks in five locations across Mali, more than two months after militants attacked the capital and other parts of the country, the army said.
The attacks occurred Saturday in areas including a northern city where government forces and Russian fighters are based, and a city south of the capital Bamako, Malian military and security sources said.
The army said the attacks targeted Agelhok, Anefis and Gao in the north, Sevare in the central region and Kenyeroba in the south.
Later that day, a follow-up statement said 20 “terrorists” were killed in Sevare and six in Gao, adding that the situation was now “fully under control.”
The army statement also added that one pro-government fighter was killed and four were wounded in Gao.
AFP news agency said the prison in Kenyerobe, which is 74 km (46 miles) from Bamako, was attacked, citing residents and security sources. The report said fighting began at various locations around 5 a.m. local time (0500 GMT).
An armed Tuareg-led separatist group confirmed it attacked one of the towns early on Saturday morning.
Mohamed Elmauloud Ramadan, a spokesman for the Azawad Liberation Front (ALF), told Reuters that the group’s fighters “attacked Anefis, which is in the northeastern Kidal region.
Government and Russian troops were stationed in Anefis following the April 25 and 26 attacks in which the FLA and al-Qaeda’s regional affiliate seized control of the city of Kidal.
Mali has previously faced uprisings by armed groups linked to al-Qaeda and Islamic State (ISIL), as well as a separatist insurgency in the north of the country. Separatists have been fighting for the creation of an independent state in northern Mali for many years.
Violence is widespread despite military leaders’ promises to crush the uprising.
“There were explosions”
Earlier on Saturday, the FLA’s Ramadan told AFP that “several positions have fallen, but fighting inside the city” of Anefis was still ongoing.
A resident of Anefis contacted by AFP said “armed groups are in the town but the army is still resisting.”
Anefis and Aguelhok, both in the north, are reported to be the last places where the Mali army maintains a presence in the Kidal region after the April attacks, having previously been driven out of the city of Kidal.
Meanwhile in Gao, a local official told Reuters that gunfire and rockets were fired at the military camp before dawn. It was not immediately clear which militant was responsible.
In Sevare, the central city, “explosions occurred… around 5am, although their origin is not yet known. Several aircraft were seen flying over the area shortly after,” a security source told AFP.
A resident of Sevare told Reuters that the morning shooting was followed by four large explosions in the west of the city around 8am, and larger explosions were heard in the city around 10am.
In Kenyerobe in the south, the main prison complex was also attacked, one prison inmate told AFP. A diplomatic and security source told Reuters that security forces had repelled the attackers. A government spokesman did not respond to requests for comment.
Saturday’s attack was the latest threat to the military-led government in the landlocked Sahel country, where rebels carried out high-profile attacks in April, striking the airport in the capital Bamako, killing the defense minister and seizing a number of army bases in the north. More recently, armed groups have also implemented a fuel blockade, depriving residents of the capital and businesses of electricity and materials.