Published On 4/26/2026
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Last update: 17:03 (Mecca time)
Clashes renewed today, Sunday, between fighters and the Malian army in the city of Kati – the stronghold of the ruling military junta – near the capital, Bamako, while Defense Minister General Sadio Camara was killed in an attack on his home near Bamako.
Sources reported to Al Jazeera and Agence France-Presse that the Malian Defense Minister was killed in coordinated attacks that targeted military sites across the country, a day after his home in the city of Kati was attacked.
Agence France-Presse quoted a member of Camara’s family as saying: “In the Kati attack, Minister Camara was killed along with his second wife and two young children.”
A government source said: “We have lost a very dear person, the Minister of Defense. He has fallen on the field of honour.”
Kati – which includes a military garrison – was among the areas attacked yesterday, Saturday, by militants from the “Support for Islam and Muslims” group, which is affiliated with Al-Qaeda and allied with the Tuareg rebels from the Front for the Liberation of Azawad.
A resident of the city told Agence France-Presse, “The fighting renewed this morning, almost everywhere. The jihadists are near the hill” overlooking Katy. Another resident said, “Aviation also entered the battle.”
On Sunday, the Tuareg rebels announced that they had reached an “agreement” stipulating the withdrawal of Russian soldiers affiliated with the “Africa Corps” from the city of Kidal in northern Mali, which they said they now controlled “completely.”
A rebel leader told Agence France-Presse, “An agreement has been reached that allows the army and its allies in the Africa Corps to leave Camp No. 2, where they have been holed up since yesterday,” adding that the city of Kidal is “completely” under their control.
A Kidal resident said, “We saw a military convoy leaving, but we do not know the details of the situation. It is the fighters of the armed movements who are deployed in the streets now.”
On the other hand, the Malian government said in a statement yesterday evening, Saturday, that the attacks caused the injury of 16 civilians and soldiers and “limited material damage,” adding that “the situation is completely under control in all areas that were attacked.”
But Mohamed Ramadan, a spokesman for the Front for the Liberation of Azawad, told Agence France-Presse, “Fighting resumed in Kidal this morning. We are seeking to remove the last Russian fighters who have taken refuge in the camp.”
Unprecedented attacks
The Front for the Liberation of Azawad said in a statement yesterday evening, Saturday, that “only a small pocket of resistance remains, consisting of Russian mercenaries from the Africa Corps and a small number of Malian soldiers holed up” in an old camp.
The Front seeking to establish a state in the Azawad region, northern Mali, confirmed yesterday, Saturday, that it was in control of Kidal after battles in the city, which is one of the cities targeted by coordinated attacks by Tuareg rebels and the “Support for Islam and Muslims” group linked to Al-Qaeda.
Mali has been facing a Tuareg insurgency and militant groups for more than a decade, but the attacks that began yesterday, Saturday, are unprecedented since a military junta seized power in a coup in 2020.
Fighting broke out at dawn yesterday, Saturday, and continued intensely during the day on the outskirts of Bamako and in many cities across Mali, including Kidal, Gao and Sevare.
The Group to Support Islam and Muslims, which has been fighting for years against the army, spoke of “victory,” describing it as the result of hard work and coordination with its “partners” and “with the actual participation of our brothers in the Front for the Liberation of Azawad.”
In a statement in Arabic, the group claimed responsibility for attacks yesterday, Saturday, that targeted “the headquarters of Malian President Assimi Goeta,” “the headquarters of Malian Defense Minister Sadio Camara,” “Modibo Keita Airport in the capital,” and “military sites in the city of Kati,” adjacent to Bamako.
In January 2024, Mali’s ruling military junta announced the termination of the 2015 peace agreement in Algeria with northern separatist groups “with immediate effect.”
In September 2024, the “Support for Islam and Muslims” group claimed responsibility for a double attack targeting the military airport in Bamako and the gendarmerie school, killing more than 70 people and wounding 200, according to security sources.
