It is the deadliest attack targeting the Fama, the Malian armed forces.
On Friday, an assault perpetrated by hundreds of jihadists against the Mondoro military camp in the center of the country claimed the lives of several Malian soldiers.
The Mondoro base is located near Mali's border with Burkina Faso and has previously been targeted by jihadists fighting the Malian state and foreign forces. A sign of the fragility of security in the country, whole sections of which are beyond the control of Bamako.
" The Government of the Republic of Mali brings to the attention of national and international opinion that the Malian armed forces of the Mondoro security post, in the circle of Douentza, reacted vigorously to a complex attack with the use of vehicle bombs in the morning of this Friday, March 4, 2022, around 5:30 a.m. The combing of the special forces immediately deployed in the area made it possible to find and neutralize 47 terrorists in the morning, against a provisional friendly toll of 27 dead, 33 injured including 21 seriously evacuated in Sévaré, 7 missing and material damage ,” the Malian government said in a statement read on Malian national television.
But according to a French military source, between 40 and 50 Malian soldiers were killed, while 20 others were injured in this attack. In addition to the human toll, the material losses would also be heavy.
The jihadists seized 21 vehicles, including tanks. According to this same source, the Malian army did not seek the support of the French Barkhane force . For good reason, the attack having taken place in an area prohibited to French soldiers.
Friday's attack comes as the military landscape in the Sahel changes after France's decision to withdraw from Mali and the arrival of Russian instructors, presented as Wagner mercenaries.
Equatorial Guinea: the victims of the explosions compensated
Equatorial Guinea took out the checkbook. The country compensated the 84 families victims of the explosions of March 7 last year in a military camp in Bata, the economic capital. The tragedy claimed the lives of 107 people while 615 others were injured.
Each family received 12,000 euros, people amputated following the explosions were entitled to 6,000 euros.
In total, Malabo mobilized 1.1 million euros.
According to the President of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema , the Bata incident was caused by the negligence of the unit in charge of guarding the dynamite deposits.
Powerful explosions had razed the buildings of the camp housing soldiers from the special forces and the gendarmes.
Two soldiers were sentenced in July 2021 to 35 and 50 years in prison for negligence.
The city of Bata is home to around 800,000 of the approximately 1.4 million inhabitants of this small oil and gas-rich state.
Uganda: Ntoroko district hit by bad weather
This is the Rwenyana camp, located on the shores of Lake Albert, in the Ntoroko district. About 5,000 people whose homes were destroyed by the 2019 floods have taken refuge here.
Only two out of 24 villages in an entire sub-county survived.
But not all families have managed to get out of their residences, which are now threatened by climatic disasters.
Two years ago it was dry land. at least 50 km of roads were destroyed. Now it takes three hours by boat to access a sub-county that is completely submerged.
Three public schools, a health center and local council offices were swept away.
In what is called a neighborhood where there are no toilets, no drinking water and where children are not allowed to play on the hanging houses. The wooden platforms supporting the makeshift structures are unsecured.
Evelyn Biwaga, a mother of seven, runs a restaurant that provides her with extra income to survive.
“We found it difficult to leave this place because this is where we live, because we are fishermen,” explained Biwaga Evelyn.
There were two other houses under what can be seen on the surface... The aggressiveness of the overflow waters is blamed on climate change, which the United Nations says is mainly due to human activities - essentially the combustion of fossil fuels that produce gases that trap heat.
Local activities have accelerated the impact of global warming on this fishing village. Ecologists say the water cycle of the Rwenzori Mountains that flow into Lake Albert, as well as the loose soil caused by the felling of trees, is a headache for Ugandan authorities.
_"The women you saw there with children should get out of the water and live in a planned settlement on land purchased with disaster ministry funds. Then the men can go there for a fishing activity , they can get out and live decently like other people. The local government of the district does not have funds to buy land. We need about one square mile at least" said William Kasoro, _president of Ntoroko district .
Those who managed to get out went from the frying pan to the fire. They escaped the floods to meet the drought. A few yards away there is too much water, yet people line up for hours to get a 20 liter jerry can of drinking water for a dollar.