BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Double attacks by an armed group have left several people in two villages dead in central Mali, authorities said in a statement Thursday. The attacks, which have been claimed by Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), followed last month’s heavy assaults on the government by the group and a Tuareg separatist group, the Azawad Liberation Front, or FLA. The FLA has been seeking to secede from the northern region of the West African nation. Mali has been ruled by a military junta that took power in a 2020 coup, promising to restore security amid a surge of extremist attacks. Since seizing the country, the junta turned to Russia as its new security partner, forcing traditional allies like France and a U.N. peacekeeping mission to leave. The previous attacks in April led to the seizure of key cities from government troops and the Russia-backed Africa Corps. The latest attacks occurred on Wednesday around 4 p.m., according to the military governor, Col. Maj.…