Across Mali, Rebels Have Launched Coordinated Attacks
- 25.04.2026, 16:45
Explosions and sounds of gunfire can be heard in Mali's capital, Bamako.
Armed jihadist groups appear to have launched coordinated attacks across the country.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the military said fighting was continuing, adding that "our defense and security forces are currently engaged in repelling the attack," Military forces.
Witnesses told the Reuters news agency of explosions and gunfire around the Kati military base, a major facility outside the capital. Soldiers blocked roads in the area.
There are also reports of fighting in Gao and Kidal in the north and in Sevara in central Mali, in what observers said was the biggest jihadist attack in years.
Contradictory reports
One local returning to Bamako from Ethiopia told the BBC that all flights into the city were canceled early Saturday morning. It is not yet clear whether the reported attacks have affected airport operations.
The US embassy in Mali has advised citizens to stay home and avoid travel, citing explosions and gunfire outside Modibo Keita international airport in Bamako and near Kati.
Although some residents say most parts of Bamako are calm, gunfire has been heard in certain parts of the city. Checkpoints have reportedly been set up on roads leading to the airport and vehicles are being searched.
Ulf Lessing, head of the Sahel regional program at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Mali, said the current incident appeared to be "the largest coordinated jihadist attack on Mali in recent years."
M Mali's military said it was fighting unidentified "terrorist groups" and the situation was under control, but many reports said the fighting was continuing. Videos circulating on social media point to the involvement of the jihadist group Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) and rebels from the Azawad Tuareg Liberation Front (FLA).
The FLA's spokesman Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane said on social media that rebels had taken control of several positions in Gao and Kidal. He also called on neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger not to intervene.
Three countries, three juntas
Mali is currently ruled by a military junta led by General Assimi Goita, who seized power in a coup in 2020.
The junta enjoyed popular support when it came to power. It promised a way out of the protracted crisis and the restoration of security. The main threat to the central government is a separatist rebellion by ethnic Tuareg in the north and jihadists from the al-Qaeda-friendly JNIM group.
A UN peacekeeping mission and French troops were deployed to Mali in 2013 to combat the escalating insurgency. They left the country after the junta came to power, and the military government hired Russian mercenaries from PMC Wagner, which was later replaced by the African Corps.
But the jihadist insurgency has not abated, and significant parts of the north and east of the country remain outside the control of the government.
In 2024, an interstate military alliance - the Confederation of Sahel States - was established in the region. It includes Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.
All three countries are ruled by military governments that came to power through coups.