Malian army intensifies bombing campaign in northern town
The Malian Armed Forces (FAMA) and the Russian Africa Corps conducted drone strikes in Kidal on May 27th, which damaged houses and destroyed a mosque.
Amid Mali’s deteriorating security situation, the Malian Armed Forces (FAMA) have intensified a bombing campaign in Kidal, according to RFI and agencies on May 27th.
FAMA and the Russian Africa Corps conducted drone strikes in Kidal on May 27th, which damaged houses and destroyed a mosque.
Kidal, a Tuareg separatist stronghold in northern Mali, was recaptured by the Tuareg-led Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) on April 25th following joint operations with the al-Qaeda linked JNIM.
Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, an FLA spokesperson, denounced the strikes as “blind revenge and a scorched-earth policy.”
Since May 1st, the FLA and JNIM have controlled Kidal’s Tessalit camps after Russian auxiliaries deserted the camps; the FLA claims to have held over 200 FAMA troops captive in Kidal since April 25th.
Defence Minister Sadio Camara was killed in the attacks; despite collaborating in the April 25th attacks, the FLA has denied that JNIM was capturing FAMA soldiers.
Between May 13th and 14th, FAMA conducted overnight strikes in Kidal, which destroyed a house and hit the governor’s compound.
Strikes were used to “neutralise” “terrorists” in Timbuktu, Gao and Kidal between May 15th and 17th.
Russian and Malian troops remain present in Kidal’s Aguelhoc and Anefis regions, the last two camps that JNIM and the FLA have not captured.
The CD-DPA, a civil society group, allege that Malian and Russian forces utilised cluster bombs on May 15th in the Timbuktu region’s Oubder and in the Kidal region’s Tadjmart on May 17th.
Cluster bombs, which pose a threat to civilians because they detonate and release numerous smaller bombs, have been prohibited since 2010 under the Oslo Accords, which Mali ratified; the weapons are still used in conflicts despite the ban.
Assimi Goïta, Mali’s junta leader, asserted that military operations will continue and that armed groups would be neutralised “wherever they are found, until the country is completely pacified.”
However, Malian and Russian forces have faced criticism over their apparent failure to protect civilians and contain Islamist insurgencies, including the JNIM-imposed fuel blockade Mali has experienced since September 2025.
On April 28th, JNIM announced a renewed blockade on Bamako, blocking roads and cutting the capital off from the rest of Mali.
Electrical infrastructure related to the Kayes region’s Manantali Dam was destroyed on May 9th; the damage may also affect Senegal and Mauritania.
Maghrebi contacted the Malian Prime Minister’s Office for comment on the effectiveness of military operations in Kidal against JNIM and the FLA, but has not received a response at the time of publication.
RFI and agencies, Maghrebi.org
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