Mali: Coordinated attacks across several cities injure 16
Mali’s fight against Islamist terrorism and regional instability has been undermined once again as coordinated attacks across several cities injured 16, according to Africa News via AP on April 26th.
Commencing on the morning of April 25th, the attacks targeted Bamako and several garrison towns, including Kati, Sévaré, Gao, and Kidal.
The attacks were described as “complex and coordinated” by Malian government spokesperson Issa Ousmane Coulibaly; both military and civilian sites were targeted.
Authorities have not confirmed a death toll; the al-Qaeda-affiliated Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
JNIM is behind the fuel blockade Mali has experienced since September 2025; militants exploited Mali’s landlocked status and reliance on fuel imports to block key supply routes and destabilise the country, which they envision will lead to the establishment of an Islamic Republic.
The group claims the attacks were a joint operation with the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), a Tuareg separatist group that has previously launched attacks against Malian Armed Forces (FAMA) and Russian auxiliaries around the Kidal region.
Kidal is a Tuareg stronghold that has been the site of tensions since 2012, when Tuareg separatists began their latest uprising against the Malian government.
Located in northern Mali, near the Niger border, Mali’s military junta regained control of Kidal in November 2023.
An indigenous Berber group primarily situated in northern Mali, Niger and southern Algeria, Tuareg separatists have long sought independence and autonomy for a state they call Azawad.
The FLA claims to have recaptured Kidal on April 25th, following a spate of attacks against Russian mercenaries in collaboration with Islamist militants; however, these claims could not be independently verified.
Writing on social media on April 26th, a Tuareg spokesperson stated: “We want to drive out the last Russian fighters who have taken refuge in a camp.”
Russian mercenaries maintain a presence in Mali as the junta struggles to maintain stability amid Islamist insurgencies and Tuareg separatist attacks.
The presence of Russian auxiliaries in Mali and the Sahel more broadly is controversial, with the International Criminal Court being asked in June 2025 to investigate alleged Russian war crimes in the Sahel.
Fighters from the Russian Africa Corps have been accused of perpetrating sexual violence and murders, while the Wagner Group have been accused of killing civilians in collaboration with FAMA.
In February, the CD-DPA’s annual report documented 553 people being killed in northern and central Mali in 2025, with FAMA and Russian forces implicated in 374 incidents.
Maghrebi contacted the Prime Minister’s Office for comment regarding the April 25th attacks, but has not received a response at the time of publication.
Africa News via AP, Maghrebi.org
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