The Tuareg-led armed group says it attacked a town in the north where Malian troops and Russian fighters are based.
Published on July 4, 2026
Armed fighters have launched attacks in five locations in Mali, more than two months after gunmen attacked the capital and other parts of the country.
The attacks took place on Saturday in areas including a northern city where government forces and Russian fighters are based, and a city south of the capital, Bamako, Malian military and security sources said.
The army said the attacks targeted Aguelhok, Anefis, Gao, Sevare and Kenieroba.
The AFP news agency said a prison in Kenieroba was attacked, citing residents and security sources.
He reported that fighting in different locations began around 5 am local time (05:00 GMT).
A Tuareg-led armed group confirmed it had attacked a town in northern Mali early on Saturday.
Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, spokesman for the Azawad Liberation Front (ALF), told the Reuters news agency that fighters from the group attacked the town of Anefis in the northeastern region of Kidal.
Government and Russian troops were deployed in Anefis following the attacks on April 25 and 26, in which the FLA and the regional affiliate of Al Qaeda took control of the city of Kidal.
Ramadane also told AFP that “several positions have fallen, but fighting continues inside the city” of Anefis.
A resident of Anefis contacted by AFP stated that “there are armed groups in the city, but the army continues to resist.” [there] “It hasn't fallen yet.”
Anefis and Aguelhok, both in the north, are the last places where the Malian army maintains a presence in the Kidal region, after the April attacks.
Meanwhile, in the central city of Gao, a local official told Reuters that gunfire and rockets had been fired at a military camp since before dawn. It was not immediately clear which fighters were responsible.
In Sevare, another central city, “explosions occurred… around five in the morning, the origin of which is still unknown. Shortly after, several planes were seen flying over the area,” a security source told AFP.
In Kenieroba, the large prison complex was also attacked, an inmate at the center told AFP.
Saturday's attack was the latest threat to military rule in the landlocked Sahel country, where rebels staged high-profile attacks in April, attacking the airport in the capital Bamako, killing the defense minister and seizing a series of military bases in the north.
