Mali has been left reeling from sweeping attacks by jihadists and separatist rebels who seized several towns and military bases and killed the defence minister and military intelligence chief.<\/p>\n
The weekend assault on the west African state\u2019s security architecture was coordinated by al-Qaida-affiliated Jama\u2019at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) and the separatist Tuareg-led movement Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) \u2013 former foes with distinct agendas.<\/p>\n
Mali\u2019s defence minister, Sadio Camara, was killed<\/a> in an attack on his residence in the garrison town of Kati, the country\u2019s junta-run government said. A spokesperson said a car laden with explosives was driven by a suicide attacker into his residence and that in an ensuing firefight Camara sustained injuries from which he later died in a hospital.<\/p>\n Sadio Camara. Photograph: Maxim Shipenkov\/Reuters<\/p>\n The military intelligence chief Modibo Kon\u00e9 was reportedly also killed and forces from the Kremlin-run Africa Corps paramilitary group backing the military-led government withdrew from a key city.<\/p>\n The attackers used car bombs and armed drones in their assaults on Kati \u2013 a junta stronghold just outside the capital, Bamako \u2013 as well as the eastern city of Gao and central towns of Mopti and S\u00e9var\u00e9.<\/p>\n Heavy gunfire and explosions were heard near Modibo Keita international airport and the main military base at Kati. The airport was temporarily closed.<\/p>\n Videos emerged on social media of jihadists laughing and relaxing at the residence of the governor of Kidal, a town 250 miles (400km) south of the Algerian border. The Guardian has not independently verified the footage.<\/p>\n Rebels of the Azawad Liberation Front in Kidal on Sunday. Photograph: Abdollah Ag Mohamed\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Camara and Kon\u00e9 were among the lead actors in the ousting of Ibrahim Boubacar Ke\u00efta\u2019s civilian government<\/a> in 2020. Another coup in May 2021 led to Assimi Go\u00efta, a young captain, becoming head of the junta<\/a> and the denouncement of an existing peace deal between the government and the rebels.<\/p>\n Go\u00efta, believed to be guarded by a private military outfit from Turkey, which has provided military support for Mali in recent years, is yet to comment publicly on the weekend\u2019s attacks.<\/p>\n Authorities are yet to provide a death toll, but said on Sunday that the assault was over. Speaking on state TV on Sunday night, Gen Oumar Diarra, the chief of general staff, said the army had left Kidal but that Malian forces had \u201cneutralised\u201d more than 200 terrorists across the country and recovered ammunition.<\/p>\n Mali map<\/a><\/p>\n Russia\u2019s Africa Corps<\/a> \u2013 the successor to the mercenary Wagner Group \u2013 confirmed it had also left Kidal, long coveted by the separatists as their capital. \u201cIn accordance with a joint decision by the leadership of the Republic of Mali, units of the African Corps that were stationed and engaged in combat in the town of Kidal have withdrawn from the area alongside Malian Army personnel,\u201d the statement, posted on Telegram<\/a>, said.<\/p>\n The FLA spokesperson Mohamed El Maouloud Ramadan claimed the forces left after an agreement was reached for their peaceful exit.<\/p>\n Mali has long battled militants linked to al-Qaida and Islamic State as well as a separatist rebellion in the north. Islamic State \u2013 Sahel Province (ISSP), formerly known as Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (IS-GS), was not heard from at the weekend.<\/p>\n A motorcyclist rides past a monument in support of the Malian army in Bamako. Photograph: AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n