COORDINATED ATTACKS HIT MALI, FIGHTING ONGOING

Sat 25 April 2026:

Fighting was ongoing near the Senou military camp, close to the Bamako-Senou International Airport in the capital, after coordinated attacks struck multiple locations across Mali early Saturday at around 5.20 am.

The assaults targeted areas in Bamako, including Senou and Kati, as well as Sevare, Mopti, Gao and Kidal, indicating a highly synchronized operation. Bamako’s main airport and the defense minister’s residence in Kati were among the reported targets, while intense fighting was reported in Kidal.

Residents reported explosions and gunfire in several areas.

“The General Staff of the Armed Forces informs the national public that unidentified armed terrorist groups targeted certain strategic points and barracks in the capital and in the interior early this morning,” the army said in a statement. “Combat is ongoing … We call on the population to remain calm and vigilant. Our defense and security forces are currently engaged in annihilating the attackers.”

Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, a spokesperson for the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), a Tuareg-dominated rebel alliance, has said in a Facebook post its forces “control the entire city” of Kidal and are continuing operations”.

“In Gao, our forces are now present inside the city, after having neutralised several positions located on the outskirts,” he added, noting that “operations are continuing.”

Al Jazeera could not independently verify these claims.

The FLA spokesperson also called on “authorities of Burkina Faso and Niger to stay out of the ongoing events in Mali”.

Residents in Kati, near Bamako, have said the house of Defence Minister General Sadio Camara was targeted earlier today.

Two witnesses quoted by Reuters said Camara’s house was hit and destroyed, while residents quoted by AFP said a powerful explosion had destroyed most of it.

Camara’s entourage said he was not present at the time and was “safe”, AFP reported.

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‘Armed groups that had been fighting each other now attacking common enemy’

Military sources that spoke to Al Jazeera journalist, Nicolas Haque, have said they suspect it is the al-Qaeda affiliate Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) that has attacked the capital and that the armed group wants to overthrow the government.

Haque also said there are reports that an ISIL (ISIS) affiliate has launched an attack in the region of Sevare.

“What’s interesting here is that we’re seeing armed groups that had been fighting each other now coordinating attacks against a common enemy, which is the state of Mali,” he said.

Mali has faced recurring attacks by armed groups since 2012, including previous strikes in 2024 targeting Kati and the Senou airport area.

The country is currently ruled by Gen. Assimi Goita, who is the president of the transition. He has effectively been in power since the second military coup in May 2021, when he removed the previous interim president and took control of the transitional government.

Attacks ‘another negative aspect’ for Mali’s military rulers

Mali formally split last year from the West African regional bloc, ECOWAS, along with Niger and Burkina Faso, to form the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).

Mali’s Foreign Minister, Abdoulaye Diop, attended a security forum earlier this week in Senegal where he said the withdrawal was “final”, but added that AES could maintain a constructive dialogue with ECOWAS on freedom of movement and preserving a common market.

“Even for the Malian minister to come to this conference signals that they are afraid for themselves and they need to open up,” Adama Gaye, political commentator on Sahel and West Africa, told Al Jazeera. “It is also an indication that they want to reach out to ECOWAS”.

Gaye added that the Goita-led military government “cannot have legitimacy in their own country”.

“They have been terrible in economic progress, peace and stability,” he added, describing the ongoing situation in Mali as “very dire”.

“These attacks will be another negative aspect to their claims that they can control Mali.”

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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