Violent clashes have erupted in northern Mali, with Tuareg rebels asserting their capture of Bamba from the military. This development follows separatist fighters claiming responsibility for the deaths of over 80 soldiers in the central region of the country.

While the government acknowledged an attack on an army base in the Mopti region on Thursday, it provided no further details.

The escalation of violence coincides with the withdrawal of UN peacekeepers, who were deployed to Mali in 2013 as per the junta's orders. The raid on Dioura on Thursday represents the furthest southward advance by Tuareg rebels since they resumed hostilities in August, following the collapse of a peace agreement from 2015.

This resurgence in violence has occurred concurrently with a surge in aggression from Islamist militant groups, despite the deployment of Russian Wagner Group mercenaries in December 2021.

Notably, the army had already faced attacks by al-Qaeda-linked jihadists in Bamba earlier in September. In a social media post, the military described the clashes in Bamba on Sunday as "intense," commencing at 06:00, though they refrained from identifying the involved parties beyond referring to them as "terrorists."

An alliance of Tuareg groups, including the Co-ordination of Azawad Movements (CMA), released a statement asserting their control over the Bamba area, a town situated on the left bank of the River Niger between Timbuktu and Gao. These Tuareg rebels, advocating for the independence of northern Mali, oppose the military's assumption of control over bases vacated by the departing UN troops.

The rebels had once been allied to the Islamist militant groups who took over northern Mali in 2012 - a move which prompted France and then the UN to intervene to stop them advancing south to the capital, Bamako.

The Tuareg groups went on to sign the Algiers peace agreement in 2015 with the government - but the jihadists persisted with attacks from their desert bases.

This continuing insurgency was the main reason Mali's military seized power in 2020, accusing the civilian government of failing to provide security.

It pledged to end the militant attacks asking France to withdraw its forces and bringing in Wagner fighters.

Yet violence targeting civilians has increased by 38% in Mali this year, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (Acled) in a recent statement.

It said one al-Qaeda-linked group was responsible for 33% of attacks but it also blamed the military and Wagner for the increase, accounting for 29% of attacks, as they moved into territory that had been largely out of state control for more than a decade.

As part of these operations, it says they target civilians from various communities, believing them to be supporters of militant and rebel groups.

Acled says Wagner uses brutal tactics to instill fear not previously seen in Mali before, including "torture, summary executions, beheadings, ejection of prisoners from aircraft, and the booby-trapping of corpses".

It warns the reawakened Tuareg rebellion and growing jihadist insurgency pose threats to the stability and security of civilian areas throughout Mali.

The UN is due to complete its withdrawal from Mali by the end of December.