MALI: Jihadists, Tuareg Allies Launch Coordinated Attacks Across Country, Hit Multiple Towns and Prison

By Onoja Baba

Jihadist fighters and their separatist Tuareg allies launched a series of coordinated attacks across northern and central Mali early Saturday, striking several towns and a prison facility in one of the most widespread offensives in recent months, according to military officials, residents, and security sources.

The attacks began around 5:00 a.m. (0500 GMT), targeting the towns of Gao, Anefis, Aguelhok, and Sevare, as well as a prison complex in Kenieroba, located a few dozen kilometres from the capital, Bamako.

The renewed violence comes more than two months after similar coordinated strikes by the same armed groups, which resulted in the killing of Mali’s defence minister during earlier clashes with the ruling military junta.

In Anefis, Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, a spokesperson for the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), an ethnic Tuareg separatist movement, said fighters had made gains during the assault.

“Several positions have fallen, but fighting is still underway inside the city,” he told AFP.

A resident contacted by AFP confirmed ongoing clashes, saying, “Armed groups are in the town, but the army is still putting up resistance. The camp has not yet fallen.”

Anefis and Aguelhok are among the last remaining northern locations in the Kidal Region where government forces still maintain a presence, following major offensives in late April that saw separatist fighters seize control of key areas, including the strategic city of Kidal.

In Gao, residents reported heavy gunfire and loud explosions near a military installation, while in Sevare, security sources said explosions were heard around dawn, followed by sightings of military aircraft overhead.

Meanwhile, the Kenieroba prison complex, holding jihadists and other detainees, came under direct attack. A prisoner inside the facility told AFP: “We are under our beds, the gunfire continues,” as fighting raged around the compound.

The scale and coordination of the assaults have raised fresh concerns over deteriorating security conditions in Mali, where armed groups continue to challenge both state authority and military rule across multiple fronts.