Mali was hit by a new wave of coordinated attacks as jihadist fighters and their Tuareg separatist allies struck several northern towns, a central garrison area and a prison near the capital. The latest assaults reached Gao, Anéfis, Aguelhok and Sévaré, while one attack targeted the Kenieroba prison complex southwest of Bamako. The fighting follows months of renewed pressure on the military junta and came only weeks after a similar offensive had already shaken the country.
The groups behind the latest raids are familiar to Malian officials. The Al-Qaeda-linked JNIM network and the Tuareg Azawad Liberation Front have worked together in recent operations, including the April attacks that helped them capture the strategic northern town of Kidal and kill the defence minister. Local witnesses and the rebels themselves described the weekend strikes as part of a broader effort to weaken and isolate the regime.
The Malian army said it had repelled attacks on Gao, Anéfis, Aguelhok, Sévaré and Kenieroba, and later claimed the same for assaults in Konna and Somadougou with the help of Africa Corps, the Moscow-controlled paramilitary group that replaced Wagner. It said one person was killed in Gao and that 20 militants were neutralised in Sévaré. By late afternoon, most of the fighting had ebbed, at least in the areas where officials said they still held the upper hand.
That account is disputed on the ground. A regional elected official said the rebels controlled Anéfis and that Russian fighters were entrenched there, while AFP also quoted local sources saying fighting had stopped in Gao and Sévaré by mid-afternoon. In Kenieroba, a prison officer said the attackers outnumbered defenders five to one, set vehicles and other objects on fire and left without killing anyone. The gap between official claims and local reporting shows how contested the battlefield has become.
The attacks also underline how far the conflict has spread since Mali's coups in 2020 and 2021. The junta promised stability but has instead struggled with a security crisis that has dragged on since 2012, involving jihadist factions, separatists, criminal networks and foreign mercenaries. Analysts quoted by AFP said the rebels appear to be trying to secure the north before pushing farther south, a strategy that would keep the state off balance and make each isolated victory harder to reverse.
The prison strike near Bamako is important because it shows the campaign is no longer confined to the desert north. Even when the attackers do not seize a major city, they can still hit symbolic and practical targets close to the capital. That reach matters for the junta because it suggests the rebels can choose where to apply pressure, forcing the government to defend roads, prisons and military bases at the same time.
