Mali’s defence minister was killed during a large-scale assault by jihadis and separatist rebels that captured multiple towns and military bases, authorities said Sunday.
The junta-run country has long struggled with militants linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, alongside a Tuareg-led separatist rebellion in the north. The government confirmed the death of Gen. Sadio Camara in a post on the defence ministry’s Facebook page and expressed condolences to his family. State television also announced his death through spokesman Gen. Issa Ousmane Coulibaly.
Officials said Saturday’s coordinated attacks struck the capital, Bamako, and several other cities and towns, in one of the biggest challenges to Mali’s army and to Russia, which has forces on the ground. The government said on Sunday the attacks appear to be over but left open questions, including who controlled the key northern city of Kidal after the fighting. Authorities have not released an overall death toll from Saturday, saying previously that at least 16 people were wounded in what they called terror attacks.
According to the defence ministry, Camara’s residence was hit by a suicide car bomber and other assailants. “He engaged in an exchange of fire with the assailants, some of whom he managed to neutralise,” the statement said. “During intense clashes, he was wounded and then transported to the hospital, where he unfortunately succumbed to his injuries.”
Separatists claimed control of Kidal. A spokesperson for the Tuareg-led Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), Mohamed El Maouloud Ramadan, said Russian Africa Corps troops and Malian forces withdrew from the city after an agreement for a peaceful exit. “Kidal is declared free,” Ramadan said. Gen. Oumar Diarra, head of the armed forces, later confirmed on state TV that the army had left Kidal and was repositioning in Anefis, about 100 kilometres south.
Kidal had long been a rebellion stronghold before being retaken by government forces and Russian mercenaries in 2023 — a symbolic victory for the junta and its Russian allies.
Saturday’s offensive marked a notable shift in tactics: the separatists reportedly coordinated with Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM), an al-Qaida-linked group. JNIM said it participated in the attack on Kidal and struck a town outside Bamako and three other cities that day. The FLA confirmed the joint operation and said it was “carried out in partnership with the JNIM, which is also committed to defending the people against the military regime in Bamako.” The separatists urged Russia to reconsider its support for the junta, accusing Moscow’s involvement of worsening civilian suffering.
Wassim Nasr, a regional specialist and senior research fellow at the Soufan Center, said the simultaneous, nationwide coordination and the two groups’ public acknowledgement of working together represented a new and concerning development. The operation extended beyond military cooperation to political alignment, he said.
In Bamako, authorities imposed a three-day overnight curfew from 9 pm to 6 am. Government spokesman Coulibaly said the 16 wounded included civilians and military personnel and that several militants had been killed, but he did not give a death toll.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) condemned the attacks and called for regional unity and coordinated action against the threat. After recent coups, the juntas in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso shifted from Western partners to Russia for help against militants. Despite that, the security situation across the Sahel has deteriorated, with record numbers of militant attacks and accusations that security forces have killed civilians suspected of colluding with extremists.
In 2024 an al-Qaida-linked group claimed deadly attacks on Bamako’s airport and a military training camp that killed many people. Ulf Laessing of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation said the separatists and JNIM are unlikely to capture Bamako in the near term given local opposition, but he added that the recent attacks were a severe blow to Russia’s reputation in Mali. “The mercenaries had no intelligence about the attacks and were unable to protect major cities,” Laessing said.
