Mali hit by new wave of coordinated attacks

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(FILES) An aerial image shows a general view of Gao, in Mali, on November 26, 2019. Jihadists and their separatist Tuareg allies hit Mali with fresh coordinated attacks on July 4, 2026, striking multiple towns and a prison, according to the army, residents and security sources. The attacks were reported in Gao, Anefis and Sevare as well as a prison in Kenieroba. The fighting, that started around 4:00 am (0400 GMT), came more than two months after the same groups staged attacks against the ruling junta in which the country’s defence minister was killed. (Photo by Souleymane AG ANARA / AFP)

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Jihadists and their separatist Tuareg allies hit Mali with fresh coordinated attacks Saturday, striking multiple towns and a prison, according to the army, residents and security sources.

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The fighting, which started around 5:00 am (0500 GMT), came more than two months after the same groups staged attacks against the ruling junta in which the country’s defence minister was killed.

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The attacks were reported in Gao, Anefis, Aguelhok and Sevare, as well as a prison in Kenieroba.

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Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, a spokesman for the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), an ethnic Tuareg separatist movement, told AFP that “several positions have fallen, but fighting is still underway inside the city” of Anefis.

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A resident there contacted by AFP said that “armed groups are in the town, but the army is still putting up resistance. The camp (there) has not yet fallen”.

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The northern towns of Anefis and Aguelhok are the last remaining locations where Mali’s army maintains a presence in the Kidal region, following the massive attacks of April 25 and 26.

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In a major blow to the ruling military junta, the strategic northern Malian city of Kidal fell under the control of FLA fighters during the late-April offensives.

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In Gao, in the north, residents contacted by AFP reported gunfire and “loud blasts” near an army camp.

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In the central town of Sevare, “explosions rang out… around 5:00 am, though their origin is not yet known. Shortly thereafter, several aircraft were spotted flying over the area”, a security source told AFP.

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The major Kenieroba prison complex, where jihadists, among others, are held, located a few dozen kilometres from the capital, Bamako, was also under attack.

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“We are under our beds, the gunfire continues,” a prisoner told AFP.

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