In the fight against jihadists in the West African country of Mali, there were again deaths and injuries on Saturday. Ten civilians and three soldiers were killed in an attack by suspected jihadists on an airport and an adjacent military base in the center of the country, the government said. 61 other civilians were injured and 88 attackers were "neutralized".

According to the information, the attackers detonated several vehicles loaded with explosives. Several houses were also destroyed, the government said. Eyewitnesses told the AFP news agency that four loud explosions and then shots from automatic rifles were heard. Smoke had risen near the airport.

Russian mercenary group apparently target of attack

In official and diplomatic circles, it was said that the target of the attack near the town of Sévaré in the Mopti region was a base of Russian soldiers. According to its own statements, the military junta ruling Mali began working with Russian "military instructors" last year. According to critics, they are members of the notorious Russian mercenary group Wagner.

A representative of the authorities said that the attack was directed against "the camp of the Russians and their planes". Another official said that Senegalese soldiers from the UN peacekeeping mission MINUSMA intervened after the attack. The four-hectare Minusma camp is located near the airport in Sévaré and the Malian army base where the Russian fighters are housed. MINUSMA condemned the attack on the military base and offered assistance to the Malian authorities in the investigation.

Meanwhile, the crash of an army helicopter after an operation against jihadists was reported from Mali's capital Bamako. After the operation in the north of the country, the helicopter crashed in a residential area of Bamako, said the General Staff of the army. The announcement spoke of "possible victims".

For years, Mali has been the scene of an insurgency by Islamist extremists that began in the north of the country in 2012 and later spread to neighboring Niger and Burkina Faso. The West African country is now ruled by a military junta led by General Assimi Goïta, which is seeking closer ties with Russia and making it more difficult to deploy international troops.