Armed groups launched coordinated attacks across Mali on Saturday, hitting targets in Bamako, Kati, Gao, Sévaré, and Kidal, according to multiple reports. Witnesses reported explosions and gunfire near the Kati military base and Bamako airport, and a resident said all flights into Bamako were cancelled early on Saturday. The separatist Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) claimed to have taken control of Kidal, but SVT Nyheter reported new fighting in Kidal on Sunday, suggesting the town is not fully under FLA control. The jihadist group JNIM was also reported to have staged simultaneous attacks on multiple locations, though no group has officially claimed responsibility, according to SVT Nyheter and Expressen.
Unconfirmed reports from his family and French media said Mali's Defence Minister Sadio Camara was killed in the attacks near Bamako, including a car bomb in Kati that killed Camara and at least three family members. The government has not confirmed his death. State broadcaster ORTM reported 16 people injured and several terrorists killed, but research sources indicate at least 60 and perhaps as many as 80 or even 100 people were killed, with a further 200 or more wounded. Those figures may or may not include militants killed as government forces recovered control. Mali's military rulers have not said how many people died, except that some trainee gendarmes had lost their lives. A training centre for the gendarmerie in the Faladié suburb was also targeted, according to reports.
Mali's military stated that fighting is ongoing and that they are repelling attackers. The FLA claimed that Russian mercenaries hired by Mali's military have agreed to withdraw from Kidal after clashes with the FLA. The military government has hired Russian mercenaries, including the Wagner Group, to tackle insecurity, according to multiple reports. The regime's hiring of Wagner provoked a row with France that led to the withdrawal of the French anti-terror force Barkhane, research sources said.
Mali has been deep in crisis since at least late 2011, and is ruled by a military junta led by Assimi Goïta since a coup in 2020. In May 2021, Colonel Goïta staged a second coup to put himself and fellow officers firmly back in control, criticising the elected government's failure to tackle the security crisis. The UN peacekeeping mission and French forces have left Mali since the junta took over, and the new regime proved no more effective than its civilian predecessor in ending the violence, according to research sources. A planned referendum on a new constitution in March 2023 has been postponed.
Historical attacks have punctuated the crisis: in 2015, an assault on the Radisson Blu hotel claimed 20 lives, and in 2017, an attack on a tourism complex on the outskirts of Bamako killed at least four people. Open conflict was mainly confined to the desert in the north and the more fertile central regions, where tensions were fuelled by competition between Dogon farmers and Peul herders over land, research sources said. Bamako has been more or less besieged by jihadists in an attempt to starve the junta, according to multiple reports.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the violence and called for international support, according to UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric. The Swedish UD in November 2025 urged all Swedes in Mali to leave immediately due to deteriorated security.
Several key uncertainties remain. The death toll has not been confirmed, with estimates ranging from 60 to 100 but no official figures released. Responsibility for the attacks is disputed: BBC News attributes them to both the FLA and JNIM, while SVT Nyheter and Expressen initially reported that no group has claimed responsibility. The status of Kidal is unclear, with the FLA claiming control but SVT Nyheter reporting ongoing fighting. The number of Russian mercenaries in Mali and their role in the current fighting also remain unknown.