Mali's defence minister Sadio Camara has been killed in an apparent suicide truck bombing on his residence near the capital Bamako. The attack was part of a wave of coordinated assaults by jihadist militants and separatists carried out across the country.
State TV confirmed the death several hours later, saying he died of wounds received while engaging with the attackers. Reports say the head of the military junta, Gen Assimi Goita, was moved to a safe location after his home was targeted.
Further north, Russian mercenaries hired by Mali's military agreed to withdraw from Kidal after two days of clashes, the separatist Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) group said. For years, Mali has been plagued by insurgencies by groups affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, and the FLA.
Quoting Camara's family and French media, news agencies said the attack - launched by militants affiliated with al-Qaeda in Kati on Saturday - also killed at least three of Camara's family members. Government spokesman Issa Ousmane Coulibaly read out a statement on Sunday evening saying Camara had been killed when "a vehicle laden with explosives and driven by a suicide attacker targeted the minister's residence".
It said he exchanged fire with the attackers and "succeeded in neutralising some of them". However, he was wounded and later died from his injuries in hospital. The attack led to the collapse of Camara's residence and the destruction of a nearby mosque, where a number of worshippers were also killed. Fighting on Saturday had been reported in the town, a major military base outside the capital, in Gao and Kidal in the north, and the central cities of Sevare and Mopti.
Reports suggest the assault by the separatists - who seek a breakaway ethnic Tuareg state in the north - was primarily focused on northern cities, while the jihadist group Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) had staged simultaneous attacks on multiple locations across the country. Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel programme at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Mali, told the BBC the incident appeared to be the "largest co-ordinated jihadist attack on Mali for years".
An FLA field commander involved in the assault on Kidal told the BBC on Saturday the group had been preparing for the offensive "for months". On Sunday, clashes between the FLA and the Malian government resumed in Kidal. Shortly after, FLA spokesman Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane said an agreement was reached with Russian elements of the Africa Corps to ensure their safe withdrawal. In later updates, he said they were "permanently withdrawing from Kidal" and "Kidal is now free". There has been no confirmation of these claims from Mali's military.
State broadcaster ORTM reported that 16 people, including civilians and soldiers, were injured in the attacks, which it said caused "limited damage". It also said several "terrorists" had been killed, adding that the situation is "completely under control" in all affected areas. However, its military confirmed fighting was continuing in Kidal, as well as Kati and other parts of the country. In a statement on Sunday, it said the violence would "not go unanswered". Curfews have been imposed in some areas.
UN chief Antonio Guterres condemned the "acts of violence" as he expressed his "solidarity with the Malian people". West Africa's regional bloc, Ecowas, similarly condemned the attacks. Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso left Ecowas after military coups brought their armies to power. Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, chair of the African Union Commission, said he was following the situation with "deep concern".
Captain Ibrahim Traoré, Burkina Faso's military ruler, condemned the attacks in Mali, describing them as "barbaric and inhumane" and said they were "backed by the enemies of the Sahel liberation struggle". The FLA has for years been fighting for the creation of its own Tuareg homeland in northern Mali, a large swathe of which it has effective control over.
Mali is currently ruled by a military junta led by Gen Assimi Goïta, who first seized power in a coup in 2020, promising to restore security and push back armed groups. The junta had popular support when it took power, but the jihadist insurgency has continued and large parts of the north and east of the country remain outside government control.
Source: www.bbc.com