Tuareg separatists, together with jihadists, launched a coordinated offensive against the Malian junta and Russian mercenaries from the Africa Corps.
The BBC reported on the attacks.
Witnesses report fighting near the Kati military base—a large facility near the country’s capital—as well as in the capital, Bamako, itself. Fighting has also been reported in the cities of Gao and Kidal in the north and in Sevare in central Mali.
The Malian military stated that they are engaged in combat with unidentified ‘terrorist groups’ and that the situation is under control; however, reports indicate that fighting keeps ongoing.
— dimdim (@dimdim518484) April 25, 2026
Videos circulating on social media point to a coordinated and simultaneous attack by the Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist group and rebels -separatists of the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), who seek to establish an independent Tuareg state—Azawad.
FLA spokesman Mohamed Elmaoud Ramadan stated on social media that his forces had taken control of several positions in Gao and Kidal. He also called on neighboring Burkina Faso and the Republic of the Niger not to intervene.
It is in Kidal that the base of the Africa Corps mercenaries is located. According to preliminary reports, the attackers managed, at least temporarily, to occupy the Russian military base and seize trophies.
Mali is currently under the rule of a military junta led by General Assimi Goïta, who seized power following a coup in 2021, promising to restore security and drive out armed groups.
After the junta came to power, it forced UN peacekeepers and French troops to leave the country and hired the Russian Defense Ministry’s Africa Corps to fight the rebels. Since their arrival in the country, the Russians have been regularly accused by human rights activists of committing crimes against civilians during operations they conducted jointly with the Malian military.
As a result of the agreement, Russia gained access to gold, uranium, and lithium deposits in Mali, and also signed an agreement to build a refinery with a capacity of up to 200 tons of gold per year.
Africa Corps
The Africa Corps was established in November 2023 at the initiative of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation. The organization is led by Deputy Defence Minister Yunus-bek Yevkurov.
The Corps was intended to replace the Wagner Group, which had lost credibility following Prigozhin’s mutiny, and to strengthen Russia’s military presence in the Middle East and Africa. To this end, in 2023, Russia redeployed most of the former Wagner Group members from Belarus to the Republic of the Niger, Libya, Sudan, Mali, the Central African Republic, and Mozambique.
