Several armed groups, including Al Qaeda's regional branch, Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), attacked military positions in Bamako and other cities in the country on Saturday morning. The army stated that the situation was under control by midday
First modification: 04/25/2026 - 16:33 Last modification: 04/25/2026 - 16:35
"You can hear gunshots everywhere," a witness told Reuters this Saturday morning from the city of Sévaré, a vital connection point in central Mali.
The Malian army reported attacks by "terrorist" groups in an apparently coordinated operation against various military positions in the capital, Bamako, and other cities.
According to the UN, "complex and simultaneous attacks" took place in Kati, near Bamako airport, and in towns such as Mopti, Gao and Kidal, in the north of the country.
"Shots are heard in the direction of the military camp. It is not the airport itself, but the camp that is in charge of its security," a civilian source told Reuters.
In the capital, soldiers blocked roads around the attacked area and called for calm; At noon they stated that the situation was under control, although "sweeping operations" continued to be carried out.
Various groups involved
On social media, Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, spokesman for the Azawad Liberation Front (ALF), a Tuareg-majority rebel alliance, declared that his group had taken control of several points in Kidal and Gao.
On the other hand, four security sources indicated that the JNIM group also participated in the attacks, although the main jihadist organization in the Sahel did not immediately claim responsibility for the events.
The Islamic State in the Sahel Province (ISSP) has also not claimed responsibility for this offensive.
Mali has been mired in recurring episodes of violence since 2012, when Tuareg separatists (nomadic Berber people of the Sahara) and fighters linked to Al Qaeda took over large areas of the north of the country.
Ulf Laessing, director of the Sahel program at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, reported to Reuters that what happened this Saturday "looks like the largest coordinated attack in years."
For Benedict Manzin, an analyst at the consulting firm Sibylline, although the assault on Bamako could be repelled, the loss of positions in the north, including Kidal, is "a realistic possibility." "Today is an important test for the regime," Manzin said.
The last major attack dates back to September 2024, when the JNIM attacked a gendarmerie training school near Bamako airport, killing around 70 people.
In 2025, the same group began blocking fuel imports and attacking tanker convoys, severely affecting supplies in the capital.
Security challenges for the ruling junta
Mali is governed by the military and led by Assimi Goïta, who came to power after two coups d'état in 2020 and 2021.
Although the junta had committed to returning power to civilians before 2024, Goïta now has a five-year presidential term, renewable indefinitely and without the need for elections, after proclaiming himself president in July 2025.
After Goïta came to power, Mali broke with France and other Western countries and turned to Russian mercenaries to guarantee its security.
The Wagner group, which had supported the Malian state since 2021, had announced the end of its mission in June 2025 and became the Africa Corps, a group under the direct control of the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Recently, Mali has strengthened its ties with the United States with whom it was preparing an agreement that would allow Washington to resume aircraft and drone flights over the country's airspace to coordinate the fight against terrorist groups.
With AFP and Reuters
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