MOSCOW, August 4. /TASS/. The situation in Mali remains tense, but the country’s armed forces and the African Corps of the Russian Armed Forces are maintaining control over it, a Russian Mi-8 helicopter pilot with the callsign Krym told TASS.

"The situation in Mali remains tense, but we have it under control - completely under control. The African Corps’ aviation units have been operating quite well," he said.

Mali’s Ministry of Defense and Veterans Affairs said on July 4 that militants had attacked army positions in the communities of Aguelhok, Anefis, Gao, Kenyeroba, Konna, Sevare and Somadougou. Malian forces, backed by the African Corps, repelled the attack. Fighting has continued over the past two days only in the Anefis area, where a major military base is located.

The coordinated attack was carried out by members of the Azawad Liberation Front and Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin, which is affiliated with Al-Qaeda (designated as a terrorist organization and outlawed in Russia).