Four gendarmes were killed and three others injured on Sunday after being ambushed in western Mali, a region prone to jihadist attacks, the paramilitary police said.

Two police vehicles were torched and two others, equipped with machine guns, were captured by the assailants during the attack in Kouala, the force said.

Two of the assailants were killed and others taken prisoner.

The gendarmerie did not say who was responsible for the attack but police, troops and Malian state targets are regularly hit by jihadist groups.

Mali has been in the throes of a nearly 11-year security crisis triggered by a regional revolt in the north that developed into a full-blown jihadist insurgency.

Thousands have died, hundreds of thousands have fled their homes and devastating economic damage has been inflicted to one of the world's poorest countries.

Since August 2020, Mali has been ruled by the military, leading to a bust-up with France, the country's traditional ally, and closer ties with Russia.

The violence has mainly affected the centre and the east and has spread to neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger. But it has not spared the west and is spreading southwards, alarming Mali's other neighbours including Senegal.

The junta claims to have forced jihadists affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State organisation onto the defensive.

Malian Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla Maiga said last week that there was no longer any part of the territory where the army could not go, although the authorities had previously acknowledged that two-thirds of the territory was outside state control.

Maiga's security assessment has been contradicted by experts and a recent UN report that said security conditions have continued to deteriorate in the central Sahel, "particularly in Burkina Faso and Mali".

Tear gas fired as influential Malian imam returns
Bamako (AFP) Jan 15, 2023 - Followers of an influential Malian imam on Sunday called for the country's ruling junta to explain the use of tear gas at a rally marking his return from abroad.

The clash has drawn interest over signs of possible tensions as the miliary moves to monopolise its power.

Supporters of imam Mahmoud Dicko turned up to welcome him on Saturday at Bamako airport as he returned from a trip to Saudi Arabia.

Tear gas was fired at the procession accompanying him home, footage shared on social media showed.

The supporters blamed security forces but no official explanation has so far been given.

Dicko played down the incident and said he "regretted" what had happened in a video released on Saturday.

But on Sunday Dicko's movement of followers CMAS condemned the "aggression".

"Nothing can justify this act by the security services against Muslim worshippers who had come out to glorify Islam", it said, calling for an investigation.

Dicko, a Saudi-trained imam, was viewed as the figurehead of the wave of protests in 2020 against president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, which culminated in his ouster in a military coup.

Since then he has openly expressed his disagreements with the junta.

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Tear gas fired as influential Malian imam returns
Bamako (AFP) Jan 15, 2023
Followers of an influential Malian imam on Sunday called for the country's ruling junta to explain the use of tear gas at a rally marking his return from abroad. The clash has drawn interest over signs of possible tensions as the miliary moves to monopolise its power. Supporters of imam Mahmoud Dicko turned up to welcome him on Saturday at Bamako airport as he returned from a trip to Saudi Arabia. Tear gas was fired at the procession accompanying him home, footage shared on social media show ... read more