Bamako: Coordinated attacks on military sites across the West African country by an al Qaeda affiliate and Tuareg rebels led to the death of Mali’s defence minister, General Sadio Camara.
According to reports, his residence in the garrison town of Kati came under attack on Saturday. The attackers carried out a suicide car bomb strike on Camara’s residence at the heavily fortified military town, about 15 km northwest of the capital, Bamako.
Camara was one of the most influential figures in the ruling military leadership and was seen as a likely future leader of Mali. He was a central figure in the military government that seized power after back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021, as reported by WION.
The armed men are also known to have attacked several other locations across Mali, including Bamako, as well as Gao and Kidal in the north, and the central city of Sevare.
Analysts say that interim President As
simi Goita has come under pressure, as authorities appeared to have been caught off guard by the latest wave of violence.
The attacks across Mali have been condemned by the African Union, the secretary-general of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and the United States Bureau of African Affairs.
The African nation has been plagued by insurgencies by groups affiliated with al Qaeda and the Islamic State group, as well as a separatist movement in the country’s north. Gunfire resumed in Kidal in the north on Sunday, reports said.
The assault by the separatist Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), which seeks a breakaway ethnic Tuareg state, was primarily focused on northern cities, while the jihadist group Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) staged simultaneous attacks on multiple locations across the country, it has been reported.
Mali’s defence forces said it was fighting what it described as “terrorist groups”, which had been “routed” with “several hundred” killed. A number of Russian mercenaries, working for the Malian government, are involved in the fighting, it has been reported.
“Today, Sunday, fighting resumed in Kidal between the Malian army, the Russians, and the (Tuareg) rebels. Residents heard gunfire. There’s shooting,” said an official, speaking on condition of anonymity.