No fewer than 49 civilians have been killed in north-eastern Mali by Islamist militants who attacked a river boat, the interim government has confirmed.
Additionally, they allegedly attacked an army camp, which resulted in the deaths of about 50 militants and 15 troops.
Three days have been set aside for national mourning by the government.
Despite military assertions that Russian Wagner Group mercenaries are reversing the tide of the Islamist insurgency, the threat from the group has been escalating.
Since the end of last month, a blockade has been in place around the northern city of Timbuktu, which is roughly 50km (30 miles) from where the boat was attacked. There have also been a number of recent attacks on transportation.
The BBC could not independently verify the government’s latest report, which was read out on national TV.
Militants reportedly attacked the boat as it was traveling on the River Niger from the town of Gao to Mopti. The river is a key transport link in a region where there are few quality roads and no railways.
Militants also attacked an army camp in the Bourem Circle in the Gao region.
The Malian army said on social media that the boat had been attacked around 11:00 GMT by ‘armed terrorist groups’.
The al-Qaeda linked group, Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), said it had carried out the assault on the army camp but has not mentioned the boat attack. It is one of several Islamist militant groups operating in northern Mali and neighbouring countries.
It has also said it had carried out an attack on Friday, on another military base in Gao, which the army described as ‘complex’ without giving further details.
The vessel was immobilised on the river and the army went in to evacuate passengers, said a Comanav official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Mali has been under the control of a military junta since 2020.
There was huge popular support for the junta when it seized power after mass protests against then-President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta. People had been angered by economic uncertainty, a disputed election and chronic insecurity.
Since then, data suggests Mali’s military government has made little progress in its fightback against Islamists who control parts of the country.
Mali’s military authorities have ordered French troops and UN peacekeepers out of the country and invited Russian contractors to replace them.
An insurgency with links to al-Qaeda and Islamic State took root in the north of Mali in 2012. Islamist militants have since gained ground, spreading across the Sahel region, especially to Burkina Faso and Niger.