Armed groups, including Jihadists launch widespread attacks on Mali government : NPR

An aerial view of Bamako, Mali, April 25, 2026.

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LAGOS, Nigeria — In Mali, West Africa, armed groups, including Islamist militants, launched one of the largest coordinated attacks in recent years, targeting several towns across the country.

Heavy gunfire and explosions were reported around government buildings and major military installations, signaling a highly organized offensive.

The attacks affected the capital, Bamako, as well as at least three other localities. In Bamako, heavy gunfire and explosions were heard near the main airport, forcing the cancellation of incoming and outgoing flights. Similar incidents were reported in Sévaré, Kidal and the town of Gao, in the north of the country.

The U.S. Embassy in Mali urged U.S. citizens to shelter in place and avoid all travel.

While the Malian government says fighting continues, officials say the situation remains under control and its security forces “are currently engaged in repelling the attackers.” Reports indicate that Russian-backed Africa Corps mercenaries are fighting alongside Malian forces in several locations, including the capital.

Videos circulating on social media suggest the attacks were carried out by militants linked to Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), a group affiliated with Al-Qaeda, as well as Tuareg rebels from the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA).

Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, spokesman for the Azawad rebels, said the fighters had taken control of several areas and warned neighboring Sahel countries against any intervention.

Mali has faced increasing instability in recent years, with al-Qaeda-linked groups, including JNIM, and others aligned with the Islamic State group, operating across the country, alongside a long-running Tuareg-led separatist rebellion in the north.

In August 2020, Malian military officers led by General Assimi Goïta seized power in a coup, later forming a military junta that pledged to improve security.

The government then severed ties with France, the former colonial power, and expelled the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali (MINUSMA), which completed its withdrawal in 2023, ending a ten-year presence in the country.

The Malian junta has since turned to the Russia-backed mercenaries of the Wagner Group, now known as the Africa Corps, to deal with the country’s growing insecurity – forces that have been accused by the UN and others of maintaining a “climate of terror and total impunity”.

But the insecurity has only gotten worse. Last year, Mali’s capital suffered a prolonged fuel blockade following attacks by the same militant groups on key supply routes.

According to this year’s Global Terrorism Index, the Sahel region remains the epicenter of terrorist activity worldwide and was responsible for more than half of all terrorism-related deaths in 2025, underscoring the scale of the crisis.

The country is still part of a larger regional group alongside Burkina Faso and Niger. All three are led by military juntas that came to power through coups. Former French colonies and once close Western partners, these countries have since moved away from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and continue to face persistent jihadist insurgencies.