MALI DEFENCE MINISTER KILLED IN SHOCK WAVE OF JIHADIST AND REBEL ATTACKS ACCROSS COUNTRY

Mali has been rocked by a wave of coordinated attacks that have left its Defence Minister, General Sadio Camara, dead, according to a government spokesperson, in what is being described as one of the most serious escalations in recent months.

Multiple international news outlets reported Camara’s death as part of a sweeping offensive carried out simultaneously by jihadist militants and separatist fighters across several parts of the country.   Follow us on WhatsApp

State television later confirmed the news, saying Camara succumbed to injuries sustained while engaging directly with the attackers.

In an official statement read on Sunday evening, government spokesperson Issa Ousmane Coulibaly said Camara was killed when “a vehicle laden with explosives and driven by a suicide attacker targeted the minister’s residence”.

He added that the minister had exchanged fire with the assailants and “succeeded in neutralising some of them” before being critically wounded and later dying in hospital.

The attack on his residence in Kati, a heavily fortified military garrison town roughly 15km north-west of Bamako, where Interim President Assimi Goïta also resides, caused widespread devastation.

The blast reportedly brought down part of the building and destroyed a nearby mosque, with worshippers among those killed in the aftermath.

Tragically, reports citing Camara’s family and French media indicate that at least three members of his family, including his second wife and two grandchildren, were also killed in the assault.

The violence formed part of a broader wave of simultaneous attacks reported on Saturday, with fighting in Bamako, Gao, Kidal, and central towns including Mopti and Sévaré.

Gunmen are said to have struck multiple military sites, while unrest was also reported further north amid clashes involving Russian mercenaries contracted by Mali’s military authorities.

The separatist Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) claimed that Russian forces agreed to withdraw from Kidal after two days of fighting.

For years, Mali has been gripped by overlapping insurgencies involving groups affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, as well as Tuareg separatists under the FLA banner, leaving large parts of the country outside state control.

The latest escalation comes against a backdrop of prolonged instability since the military junta, led by Gen Assimi Goïta, took power in coups in 2020 and 2021, pledging to restore security and push back armed groups.

However, despite the withdrawal of French forces and UN peacekeepers, and the deployment of Russian mercenaries to support the army, the insurgency has persisted and, in some areas, intensified.

International reaction has been swift, with the African Union, the European Union, the United States Bureau of African Affairs, and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation all condemning the attacks.

West Africa’s regional bloc, ECOWAS, also issued a strong denunciation despite strained relations with Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, which have since withdrawn following military takeovers.

Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, chair of the African Union Commission, said he was following developments with “deep concern”, while Burkina Faso’s military leader Captain Ibrahim Traoré — head of the Alliance of Sahel States comprising Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso — also condemned the violence.

Goïta was moved to a secure location after his residence came under threat during the coordinated assaults.