Mali attacks hit junta as Russia’s Africa Corps exits Kidal

A coordinated wave of attacks across Mali over the weekend marked a rare joint operation by Tuareg separatists and militants linked to Al Qaeda, officials and the armed groups said. The assaults hit military barracks and security sites in at least five cities: Kati, Mopti-Sévaré, Gao, Kidal and Bamako.

No independently confirmed death toll was available from the two groups that said they carried out the strikes: JNIM and the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA). Mali’s military leadership and a government spokesman issued differing accounts, while fighting continued in some areas on Monday.

Targets included Bamako as officials cite heavy losses

Maj. Gen. Oumar Diarra, Mali’s chief of the general staff, told state-run television on Sunday that more than 200 “terrorists” had been killed. A government spokesman said civilians and soldiers were among the dead, without providing figures.

Authorities also said Lt. Gen. Sadio Camara, Mali’s defense minister, was killed in the coordinated attacks. He was described as a key liaison between the Malian Army and Russian paramilitary forces operating in the country.

Insurgent claims of territorial gains, with situation “fluid”

In a statement on Saturday, JNIM and the FLA said they had captured the northern city of Kidal and the central city of Mopti. They also claimed to have taken military bases in nearby Sevaré and in Gao, while analysts said the situation was changing quickly.

Héni Nsaibia, a senior West Africa analyst at the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data project (A.C.L.E.D.), said the strikes carried symbolic weight because they reached “the heart of power” and targeted the regime’s inner circle. He added that the reported capture of Kidal, which Mali’s military had retaken from insurgents in 2023, pointed to a worsening political and security picture.

Russia’s role and the shift away from Western partners

Mali has faced Islamist armed groups and separatist militants for more than a decade, including JNIM and the Islamic State Sahel Province (ISSP). The groups operate across large, lightly governed areas of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, and have expanded into coastal states such as Benin and Togo, according to the account.

After President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was removed in a coup, Mali’s military-led authorities expelled French forces and United Nations peacekeepers and ended security cooperation with the United States. Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso also left ECOWAS and created the Alliance of Sahel States, and last year all three postponed elections indefinitely, citing security concerns.

Security deterioration and civilian harm allegations

As French and U.N. forces departed, Mali turned sharply toward Russia, deploying thousands of fighters from Russia’s Africa Corps, previously known as Wagner. The force, described as overseen by Russian military intelligence, provides security support to several African governments in exchange for payment or resource-access contracts.

Despite that shift, the security situation in Mali has worsened, and the Sahel has become the world’s deadliest terrorism hot spot, according to the Global Terrorism Index. Human rights groups have accused Russian fighters and Malian soldiers of retaliatory attacks on civilians; A.C.L.E.D. reported at least 918 civilians killed last year by Russian fighters and Malian soldiers, compared with 232 civilians killed by JNIM and ISSP.

Government response and Russia’s statement on Kidal

In Bamako, officials announced two days of mourning and flags were lowered to half-staff, as the capital saw an uneasy calm on Monday. Mali’s military said it was stepping up large-scale patrols, reinforcing checkpoints, and continuing operations against armed groups in Kidal and elsewhere.

In Kidal, JNIM appeared to be in control, according to the account. Russia’s Africa Corps said on Monday that its forces had “left Kidal together with the troops of the Malian government in a joint decision with the leaders,” without further details in the excerpt provided.