BAMAKO: A large-scale attack on a central army base in Mali last week killed at least 50 soldiers and five Russian Africa Corps paramilitaries, security and local sources told AFP Monday. Thursday’s assault on the Dioura military camp, which was claimed by extremists, is one of the deadliest suffered by the Malian army since the beginning of the conflict that has ravaged the west African country for more than a decade. Some sources contacted by AFP reported a higher death toll of between 60 and 80 soldiers at the camp, which is located in the central region of Mopti. Several dozen Malian soldiers were also taken prisoner, according to the security and local sources. “The death toll is high. Leaving aside the wounded, I can say that we are mourning the deaths of more than 50 of our personnel, including five members of the Africa Corps,” an officer present at the scene told AFP. Another security source in Mopti reported “more than 60 soldiers killed in the attack, in addition to around 60 others taken prisoner”. Meanwhile a local official contacted by AFP said “at least 80 soldiers were killed and many taken prisoner”. “The extremists attacked the Dioura camp and returned the next day,” the local source said, adding that “the army did not send reinforcements to the site”. Following the attack, the Al-Qaeda-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) quickly claimed “total control of a Malian army barracks in the town of Dioura” on its communication channels. Since late April, JNIM and its Tuareg separatist allies have waged a series of attacks aimed at weakening the country’s junta rulers, including capturing the northern city of Kidal and killing the defence minister. Mali has been wracked since 2012 by a serious security crisis, notably fuelled by violence from jihadists allied to Al-Qaeda or Daesh, along with criminal gangs and armed separatists. Its ruling junta, which came to power in two successive coups in 2020 and 2021, has turned away from former colonial power France and moved closer to Russia, both militarily and politically. In a statement issued Sunday regarding the situation, Mali’s army reported “air-ground operations launched against the attackers in Dioura” and noted the “neutralization” of “several terrorist operatives on motorcycles attempting to hide” in the bush southwest of town. In mid-July, at least 50 other soldiers lost their lives in northern Mali when a coalition of Tuareg separatists and extremists ambushed an army convoy leaving the strategic town of Anefis and heading for the city of Gao.