After a weekend of co-ordinated attacks across Mali by separatist fighters and Islamist militants, Russian forces who are in the country helping protect the military government have confirmed they have pulled out of the northern city of Kidal.
In a series of social media posts, Russia’s Africa Corps said they had “left the locality” along with Malian troops.
The separatist Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) group said on Sunday the Russian troops had agreed to withdraw permanently, and claimed control of Kidal, declaring it “now free”.
Mali has faced insurgencies for years from the separatists in the north, and groups affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.
On Saturday, explosions and sustained gunfire were reported in multiple parts of Mali, including the capital, Bamako.
Attacks were also reported in the central cities of Sevare and Mopti, as well as Gao and Kidal in the north, on the southern fringes of the Sahara desert.
In Kati – a town near the capital and home to a major military base – Malian Defence Minister Sadio Camara was killed in an apparent suicide truck bombing on his residence.
Reports suggest the assault by the FLA – who seek a breakaway state for northern areas dominated by ethnic Tuaregs – was primarily focused on cities in the region, while the jihadist group Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) had staged simultaneous attacks in multiple areas.
The Alliance of Sahel States (AES) – comprising Mali and the neighbouring countries of Burkina Faso and Niger also led by the military – said the attacks were a “monstrous plot backed by the enemies of the liberation of the Sahel” but did not go into any further detail.
