Days after the West African country’s ruling military was ambushed by Islamist rebels, it has sought to hide the true extent of the carnage.

Although the attack was attributed to Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), the al-Qaeda affiliated coalition of armed groups that is Mali’s largest jihadist force, it did not substantially weaken the junta’s self-confidence and capacity to set the domestic political and diplomatic agenda.

An elaborate attack by an Al Qaeda affiliate in Mali's capital this week killed some 70 people, diplomatic and security sources said on Thursday, while the government offered no figures on casualties.

Authorities in Mali have declared the capital, Bamako, "under control" following an attack involving gunfire near a gendarmerie building and a military zone close to the city's airport. In a statement,

Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM), a local affiliate of Al-Qaeda, attacked Mali's Bamako Airport on September 17 in its largest assault on the capital in years, setting fire to the presidential B737-700 (BBJ).

Mali's security situation remained unclear on Wednesday after insurgents attacked an elite police training academy and other strategic areas on Tuesday, killing trainees, overrunning part of the airport and setting the presidential jet alight.

Over 70 people were killed and 200 injured in Tuesday’s jihadist attack on a gendarmerie school and military airport in Bamako, the capital of Mali, according to AFP, citing military sources. The junta ruling the country since 2021,

A jihadist attack in the Malian capital of Bamako targeting a military police training camp and airport left more than 70 people dead and 200 wounded, security sources said Thursday,