Fifteen jihadists, according to government figures, were killed in the raids, which began early Monday and were quelled more than a day later. But around 60 soldiers are listed as missing - 78, according to a security source - with no details as to whether they have been killed or captured. "Operations to secure the area are under way with Mali's partners," a Malian military source said.
"Our objective is to consolidate our presence in Boulkessy and to focus on soldiers of whom we are currently without news." Hundreds of angry youths and wives of soldiers demonstrated outside a military camp in the capital Bamako late Wednesday.
Some demonstrators burned tyres to block off the avenue. "We came here because the government is not telling the truth about the number of dead," a woman demonstrator told AFP. "It's our husbands, the red berets, who are at Boulkessy."