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Russian forces must withdraw from "all of Mali" and the ruling junta will "fall sooner or later", a spokesman for Tuareg rebels told AFP, after Islamist insurgents and separatists launched attacks destabilising the west African country. The offensive forced Russia’s Africa Corps paramilitary unit to pull out of Kidal, a strategic northern town that Russian forces helped the Malian army recapture from Tuareg rebels in 2023, prompting speculation about a wider pull-out. Recall, as Azawad Liberation forces launched a massive offensive operation across northern Mali, the Russian-backed positions of the local junta stood no chance to win the battle. Recently, Wagner forces witnessed an unprecedented offensive against them in Africa, as the scale and speed of the attacks caught the Russian Africa Corps completely off guard, RFU News reports. Russian-held towns, such as Kidal, Gao, Sevare, and Bamako, were targeted in a coordinated operation of Azawad Liberation Army with the help of other rebel groups, opposing the Russian-backed junta in control of Malian government. At the center of this offensive are the Tuareg, a Berber nomadic ethnic group that has long dominated the vast desert regions of northern Mali, which is ruled itself by a military junta, after officers led by Colonel Assimi Goita seized power in coups five years ago. Since then, it has relied heavily on Russian support to maintain control, initially through the Wagner Group, but after Wagner’s restructuring in two thousand twenty five, its operations were absorbed into the Africa Corps, now directly controlled by Russia’s Ministry of Defense. However, the assistance of Africa Corps has taken a shift to training, logistics, and limited support operations, leaving frontline combat increasingly to Malian forces. This Russian shift towards a more passive form of support proved decisive once the Tuareg offensive began. What unfolded on April 25 was not a localized attack but a synchronized shock campaign, as Tuareg-led fighters, working alongside rebel allies, struck simultaneously across multiple regions. In the north, columns advanced rapidly into Kidal, seizing key administrative buildings within hours, including the governor’s residence, RFU News says. As a result, Russian and Malian junta forces were pushed back into a fortified camp, effectively surrounded and cut off. At the same time, pressure mounted across the entire country, as fighting erupted around Gao, Mopti, and Sevare, while coordinated attacks near Bamako disrupted command and logistics structures. This forced the junta to divide its already limited forces, preventing any meaningful counterattack. Despite initial Russian attempts to halt the advance by using reconnaissance drones and helicopters, Tuareg units consolidated control, tightened the siege around the remaining Russian-Malian positions, putting them under continuous fire and probing assaults. By the next day, the situation had become untenable, with reports of two Russian helicopters having been downed, as the outnumbered and isolated Russian Africa Corps units entered negotiations with the rebels. The result was a humiliating withdrawal agreement, in which Russian forces were granted safe passage out of Kidal under Tuareg escort. They burned parts of their base and retreated south, effectively abandoning the town, while shortly after, Tuareg fighters raised their flags over the ex-Russian base, declaring full control. Hours later, Russia also negotiated the withdrawal of its forces from Tessalit in northern Mali, meaning the entire region is now under Tuareg control, RFU News reports. This withdrawal from the main two Russian-controlled bases exposed a critical rupture, as while Russian forces secured their own evacuation, Malian junta troops were largely left behind, encircled and without coordinated support. Almost immediately, Tuareg forces shifted from containment to full-scale assaults, overrunning remaining positions and accelerating territorial gains. What had been a contested front collapsed into a rapid loss of control, in which many Malian troops were forced to surrender in captivity. Russian exit from Mali and the loss of Kidal mark a significant turning point. The town was once presented as a major victory for Russian-backed forces in two thousand twenty-three, but now it symbolizes the collapse of Moscow’s position in northern Mali. By negotiating their own exit and leaving their allies exposed, Russian forces have reinforced perceptions that their support is always conditional and unreliable, RFU News says. Russian paramilitary forces provide key support to Mali’s military junta, which has been in power since 2020 and is battling insurgents in a long-running conflict in the north.
