On April 25, 2026, a coordinated series of attacks was launched across various cities and towns in Mali by Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), an Al-Qaeda-affiliated group, and the Azawad Liberation Front (Front de Libération de l’Azawad; FLA), a collective of Tuareg separatist groups. Attacks targeted military bases and other sites of significance in locations that included the capital Bamako and city Kati in the south of the country, Sévaré and Mopti in the central area, and Kidal and Gao in the northeast. Significant outcomes of the attacks included Mali’s defense minister, Sadio Camara, being killed in an attack on his home in Kati, and the FLA taking control of Kidal, forcing troops from the Russian Africa Corps and Malian military stationed there to withdraw from the town.
The attacks represented an unprecedented level of coordination between the Tuareg separatists and the JNIM Islamic militant group and highlighted the vulnerability of the military government. They also called into question the benefit of having Africa Corps forces in the country.