Mali under siege: Bamako and other areas are targeted by synchronized gunfire and explosions

According to the Mali army, militants launched strikes on Saturday morning in Bamako, the country’s capital, as well as in a number of interior regions. The attacks appeared to be coordinated by numerous factions.

Just before six in the morning (0600 GMT), there were two large explosions and continuous gunfire close to Mali’s biggest military installation, Kati, outside the country’s capital, Bamako. According to a Reuters witness, soldiers were sent to cut off roads in the vicinity. Similar disturbances occurred at about the same period in the northern Mali towns of Gao and Kidal, as well as in the center town of Sevare. “There’s gunfire everywhere,” a Sevare witness reported.

Al-Qaeda and Islamic State branches in West Africa are fighting insurgencies in Mali. In the north, Tuareg-led uprisings have a far longer history.  Unidentified “terrorist” organizations attacked multiple areas in the capital and other parts of the nation, according to a statement released by Mali’s army. It advised people to maintain their composure and stated that combat was still going on.

Following coups in 2020 and 2021, Mali’s military authorities gained office with the promise of reestablishing stability, but terrorists still regularly assault civilians and the army.A spokesman for the rebel group Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, claimed that the group’s soldiers had taken over many locations in Kidal and Gao. This claim could not be independently verified by Reuters.

According to four security sources, the strikes on Saturday also featured Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), a regional affiliate of al Qaeda.  Neither the Islamic State in the Sahel Province (ISSP) nor JNIM, which regularly launches attacks on military posts across much of Mali, immediately claimed responsibility.

Requests for comment were not immediately answered by representatives of the Mali army or the administration.Additionally, a neighbor reported hearing gunfire early on Saturday near a military installation housing Russian mercenary personnel near Bamako’s airport.

“We hear gunfire towards the military camp. It’s not the airport itself, but the camp that secures the airport,” said the resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity for safety reasons.

While originally rejecting defense collaboration with Western nations, Assimi Goita’s administration has relied on Russian mercenaries for security support.

It has recently sought deeper connections with the United States.

In March, Reuters revealed that the United States and Mali were getting close to an agreement that would permit Washington to start flying planes and drones over the West African nation’s airspace in order to obtain intelligence on Islamist organizations.