Fighting broke out again in the West African country of Mali on Sunday morning. The French news agency AFP reports that fighting is taking place in Kidal, in the northeast of the country. The fighting follows a major series of attacks across the country on Saturday. Those attacks were carried out by Tuareg rebels and the Al-Qaeda-affiliated JNIM. According to Al Jazeera Malian Defense Minister Sadio Camara was killed in the attacks on Saturday. The military rulers in the country, who are supported by Russian mercenaries, previously reported that “the situation was under control.”
A spokesman for the Tuareg rebels told AFP on Sunday morning that there was renewed fighting in Kidal, where “the last Russian fighters” are said to have “entrenched” themselves in a military camp. The same spokesperson posted a message on Facebook in which he states that the Russian mercenaries would withdraw. NRC cannot independently confirm whether the spokesperson’s reports are correct. Kidal is an important city for the Tuareg rebels. In 2023 they lost control of the city after government forces took the city with Russian support.
The Tuareg rebels, who are fighting for a secular free state in the north of Mali, confirmed for the first time on Sunday that they collaborate with the jihadist movement JNIM, a terrorist organization that regularly commits attacks in Mali. According to a spokesperson for the Tuaregs, the two organizations find each other in their shared struggle against the military rulers in the country and their Russian mercenaries. It is not the first time that the two groups have worked together. In 2012, they also worked together to capture a number of cities in northern Mali.
