Mali defence minister killed in rebel attacks, reports say

Mali's defence minister has been killed in an apparent suicide truck bombing on his residence near the capital Bamako, according to his family and multiple news reports. Sadio Camara was killed as part of a wave of coordinated attacks by jihadist militants and separatists carried out across the country on Saturday.

Multiple news outlets reported the death of Sadio Camara, part of a wave of coordinated attacks by jihadist militants and separatists carried out across the country. There has been no confirmation from the military junta, but further reports say its head, Gen Assimi Goita, was moved to a safe location after his home was targeted.

Meanwhile further north Russian mercenaries hired by Mali's military agreed to withdraw from Kidal after two days of clashes, the separatist Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) group said.

For years, Mali has been plagued by insurgencies by groups affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, and the FLA.

Quoting Camara's family and French media, news agencies said the attack - launched by militants affiliated with al-Qaeda in Kati on Saturday - also killed at least three of Camara's family members. Fighting on Saturday had been reported in the town, a major military base outside the capital, in Gao and Kidal in the north, and the central cities of Sevare and Mopti.

Reports suggest the assault by the separatists - who seek a breakaway ethnic Tuareg state in the north - was primarily focused on northern cities, while the jihadist group Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) had staged simultaneous attacks on multiple locations across the country.

Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel programme at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Mali, told the BBC the incident appeared to be the "largest co-ordinated jihadist attack on Mali for years".

FLA spokesman Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane said Kidal had "not fallen completely" during those attacks, at the time, telling the BBC they remained in the city because "elements of the Malian army and Russian mercenaries" were still present.

On Sunday, clashes between the FLA and the Malian government resumed in Kidal. Shortly after these reports, Ramadane said: "An agreement was reached between the Azawad forces and the Russian elements of the Africa Corps with a view to ensuring their secure withdrawal from the fighting."

In later updates, he said they were "permanently withdrawing from Kidal" and "Kidal is now free". There has been no confirmation of these claims from Mali's military.

The group also claims to have taken control of the city, which served as an unofficial headquarters of the separatist movement for more than a decade before it was captured by Mali's army with the help of Russian mercenaries in late 2023.

An FLA field commander involved in the assault on Kidal told the BBC on Saturday the group had been preparing for the offensive "for months", adding: "Our main goal now is to control Gao and then Timbuktu will be easy to fall."

State broadcaster ORTM reported that 16 people, including civilians and soldiers, were injured in the attacks, which it said caused "limited damage". It also said several "terrorists" had been killed, adding that the situation is "completely under control" in all affected areas. However, its military confirmed fighting was continuing in Kidal, as well as Kati and other parts of the country.

In a statement on Sunday, it said the violence would "not go unanswered". It added that a nationwide alert had been issued, with large-scale patrols stepped up and checkpoints reinforced to tighten security. Curfews have been imposed in some areas. In Bamako, there is a curfew from 21:00 to 06:00 local time (GMT), expected to end on Monday.

Following Saturday's widespread orchestrated attacks, UN chief Antonio Guterres condemned the "acts of violence" as he expressed his "solidarity with the Malian people". West Africa's regional bloc, Ecowas, similarly condemned the attacks. Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso left Ecowas after military coups brought their armies to power. Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, chair of the African Union Commission, said he was following the situation with "deep concern".

The FLA has for years been fighting for the creation of its own Tuareg homeland in northern Mali, a large swathe of which it has effective control over. Mali is currently ruled by a military junta led by Gen Assimi Goïta, who first seized power in a coup in 2020, promising to restore security and push back armed groups.