Suspected armed groups and Tuareg separatist fighters launched coordinated attacks across Mali before dawn, striking towns, military positions and a prison near the capital, Bamako.
The fighting was reported in Gao, Anefis, Aguelhok and Sevare, while gunfire was also heard at a prison near Bamako. The targets pointed to a coordinated push across several parts of the country rather than a single isolated raid.
The attacks add pressure on Mali’s ruling military junta, which has been fighting armed groups and separatist forces while trying to hold territory across a vast country with limited state reach outside key cities.
The latest offensive came just over two months after an earlier attack that dealt a blow to the junta and killed Mali’s defence minister, according to the report. That earlier episode left the authorities facing new questions over security in a conflict that has drawn in military forces, separatist groups and armed factions linked to wider Sahel instability.
There was no immediate confirmed death toll in the latest attacks. The reported fighting in Gao and Sevare is especially sensitive because both locations have been used as strategic hubs during Mali’s long-running security crisis.
Mali has been governed by military authorities since coups in 2020 and 2021. The new violence comes as Bamako continues to face armed pressure in the north and centre, where state forces, separatist fighters and Islamist militant groups have fought for control of towns, roads and military positions.
By Sunday, the full scale of the offensive, and the number of casualties, had not been confirmed.
