Tuareg rebels in control of key Mali town after attacks

In a developing story, a column of black smoke rises above buildings as traffic passes the Africa Tower monument in Bamako on April 26, 2026. April 25, 2026's shock attacks, synchronised by Tuareg rebels of the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) coalition and the jihadist Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), targeted several areas in the vast arid country. (Photo by AFP)

Jihadists and Tuareg separatists in Mali have taken control of the key northern town of Kidal after coordinated attacks on strategic junta positions across the country, an ally of the local governor and local sources mentioned.

Two days of fierce fighting between the army and jihadists allied with Tuareg rebels have plunged the junta-led west African country into uncertainty over the military government’s future.

Several strategic towns and areas around the capital Bamako were targeted in a dawn offensive on Saturday.

“We have left Kidal. We are no longer there. It’s the jihadists and the FLA (the Azawad Liberation Front) who are in Kidal,” a source close to the governor told AFP.

Residents also confirmed to AFP having seen Malian soldiers and their Russian mercenary backers leaving the town.

The FLA, a separatist group claiming the territory of Azawad in northern Mali, had disclosed over the weekend that it had “total” control of Kidal, marking a major blow to Mali’s military junta.

Speaking to ORTM public television on Sunday, the army’s chief of staff announced a “readjustment” and “redeployment” of the military presence in the area of Anefis, 100 kilometres (60 miles) from Kidal.

Kidal, a pro-independence stronghold, had been under the control of rebel groups for years before being retaken in November 2023 in a Malian army offensive, supported by Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group.

Its recapture was widely hailed across Mali as a symbolic success.