Gunmen stage simultaneous attacks across Mali, army says

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Gunmen have attacked Mali’s capital Bamako and several locations across the country, the army says, in an apparently coordinated ⁠assault involving multiple groups.

The army on Saturday morning said it was fighting “terrorist groups” that had attacked army barracks in Bamako and other areas in the military-ruled nation.

Two loud explosions and sustained gunfire were heard shortly before 6am (06:00 GMT) near Mali’s main military base, Kati, outside Bamako, the home of military ruler General Assimi Goita.

There was similar unrest at about the same time in the central town of Sevare, the town of Kidal and the city of Gao in northern Mali.

“There’s gunfire everywhere,” a witness told the Reuters news agency.

An Associated Press journalist in Bamako reported the use of heavy weaponry and automatic rifle gunfire near Modibo Keita International Airport, located about 15km (9 miles) from the city centre. A helicopter patrolled nearby neighbourhoods.

Al Jazeera’s Nicolas Haque, who has extensively reported from Mali, said the scale and coordination of the attacks “appear to be unprecedented”.

“According to military sources, the fighters involved in this coordinated attack are targeting military armed compounds,” he said, adding that ” there is an “unprecedented level of panic” in the military ranks.

Mali, rich in gold and other valuable minerals, has been dealing with more than a decade of armed unrest. It has seen attacks by the West Africa affiliates of al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS). It is also grappling with ‌a much longer history of Tuareg-led rebellion in the north.

Following two military coups in 2020 and 2021, Bamako cut ties with its former colonial ruler, France, and expelled French forces and United Nations peacekeeping missions.

In July last year, military authorities granted coup leader Goita a five-year presidential mandate, which can be renewed “as many times as necessary” without an election.

A month before that, Russia’s Wagner Group, which had been aiding Malian forces against armed groups since 2021, said it would complete its mission. It has now become the Africa Corps, an organisation under the direct control of the Russian Ministry of Defence.

Alongside Burkina Faso and Niger – which are also ruled by military governments backed by Russian mercenaries – Mali formed the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) in 2023.

The trio have formed a joint military battalion aimed at fighting groups across the Sahel.