Terrorists Attack Mali's Largest Airport

Mali's main international airport was temporarily closed after an attack on a nearby police base. Here's what we know about the situation so far.

Airport Closure

In the early hours of Tuesday, September 17th, a group of insurgents attacked a military police training school. Residents of the area gave conflicting reports, with some saying that they heard gunshots coming from the gendarmerie (training school) while others said they came from the direction of the airport.

This was not an attack on the airport directly, with the Malian army releasing a statement saying:

"Early this morning, a group of terrorists attempted to infiltrate the Faladie gendarmerie school. Mopping-up operations are currently underway throughout the area."

Faladie is a district within the limits of Mali's capital city, Bamako. It is located on the southeastern side of the city near the airport.

As a precaution, Bamako's Senou International Airport (BKO) was temporarily closed for the remainder of the day. All inbound flights were diverted to other airports and departing flights were canceled.

Video surfacing from the same day shows some insurgents on the airport apron setting fire to government aircraft. The video clearly shows them setting fire to the engine covers of a parked Boeing 737-700.

This aircraft, registered TZ-PRM, is used by the Government of Mali and has markings on its fuselage reflecting that. It is unclear at the moment if other private aircraft were affected.

Reopened

The Malian army announced later on Tuesday that the situation was under control. Its forces had reportedly "pushed back" the terrorists responsible for the attack and urged that citizens go about their daily business.

On Tuesday and into the early hours of Wednesday, scheduled arrivals at Bamako Airport were from Ethiopian Airlines, Air Senegal, ASKY Airlines, Corsair, Mauritania Airlines, Air Algerie, and Royal Air Maroc.

Due to the airport closure, one ASKY Airlines flight from Conakry, Guinea (CKY) was diverted to Lomé, Togo (LFW). An Ethiopian Airlines A350 flight from Dakar, Senegal (DSS) flew directly to Addis Ababa (ADD) instead of its scheduled stopover in Bamako.

Similarly, later that day, another Ethiopian A350 coming from Addis flew straight to Dakar, avoiding the stopover in Bamako.

Tunisair's flight from Tunis (TUN) to Bamako via Abidjan, Ivory Coast (ABJ) did something similar to the Ethiopian A350s. That Airbus A320 instead flew just between TUN-ABJ, going right back to Tunis as opposed to continuing to Bamako.

An Air Senegal flight from Dakar was canceled while another flight from Conakry was diverted to Dakar along with a Mauritanian Airlines flight from Cotonou, Benin (COO). Another diversion instance was an ASKY flight from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (OUA) that diverted to Conakry and Tunisair from Abidjan.

Corsair's flight from Paris Orly (ORY), Air Algerie from Algiers (ALG), and Royal Air Maroc from Casablanca (CMN) were all canceled.

As of 8:00 am local time on Wednesday, September 18th, the airport has reopened to scheduled commercial traffic. The first arrival since the reopening was ASKY Airlines Flight 17 from Conakry, a Boeing 737-800. The first departure was ASKY 49 to Ouagadougou.

Other flights from Ethiopian, Air Senegal, Air Côte d'Ivoire, and Turkish Airlines among others are running normally.