Renewed Coordinated Attacks Roil Northern Mali as Tuareg Rebels and Al-Qaeda Affiliate Target Military Positions

Armed groups in military-run Mali have launched renewed coordinated attacks across several towns, targeting army positions and bases used by Malian troops and Russian forces.

The Saturday assaults struck multiple locations simultaneously. The Malian army confirmed attacks on five positions—in Aguelhok, Anefis and Gao in the north; Sevare in central Mali; and Kenieroba in the south. The army stated the situation was “totally under control” and reported killing 20 “terrorists” in Sevare and six in Gao, while one pro-government fighter was killed and four wounded in Gao.

Later Saturday, the army announced it had repelled additional attacks in Konna and Somadougou with assistance from Africa Corps, a Russian-backed paramilitary group. Videos posted on the Africa Corps’ Telegram channel Sunday purported to show a drone strike on a rebel position in Anefis and a Russian soldier atop a building in Aguelhok, though the footage could not be independently verified.

In Kenieroba, a major prison complex housing members of Mali’s political opposition came under attack.

A Tuareg-dominated separatist group, the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), and the al-Qaeda-linked Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) claimed responsibility. JNIM stated it had seized at least seven positions held by the army or pro-government fighters—claims that could not be independently verified.

JNIM, formed in 2017 as a coalition of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb’s Saharan branch with Ansar Dine, Katiba Macina, and al-Mourabitoun, is led by Iyad Ag Ghali. The group operates across Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, aiming to capture territory and expel Western influence. Analysts suggest it may be seeking to control major cities and govern the country outright.

The FLA, established in 2024 as a coalition of northern separatist forces under Alghabass Ag Intalla, continues the Tuareg fight for self-determination and independence in Azawad. While often rival, the two groups occasionally coordinate against common enemies: Mali’s government and its allies.

These strikes follow a late-April attack on Bamako and other locations that killed Defense Minister Sadio Camara.

Mali has experienced cyclical instability since independence in 1960. A 2012 rebellion by Tuareg separatists allied with al-Qaeda-linked fighters seized northern cities, prompting French intervention in 2013. A 2015 UN-brokered peace deal followed under President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who was deposed in a 2020 coup amid protests over economic crisis and insecurity.A interim government led by President Bah Ndaw and Vice President Assimi Goita took charge, but Goita seized power in a May 2021 coup, pledging improved security. His government severed ties with France, expelled French forces and UN peacekeepers, and invited Russia’s Wagner Group in December 2021. Wagner announced withdrawal in June of the previous year, with remnants operating as Africa Corps.

Alex Vines of the European Council on Foreign Relations told Al Jazeera the attacks have confined Malian authorities to “securitized enclaves and corridors,” noting that foreign military support has achieved limited success given the coordination among armed groups rather than internal competition.

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