Mali army says armed ‘terrorist’ groups attacked military positions

Mali’s ​army ​said armed “terrorist” groups ​were attacking several ⁠military positions in junta-ruled west African country of Mali on Saturday, with fighting ongoing.

Gunfire was heard in multiple districts including the international airport in the capital Bamako an AP reporter and residents said.

An AP journalist in Bamako heard sustained heavy weapons and automatic rifle gunfire coming from Modibo Keïta International Airport, around 15 kilometres (9 miles) from the city center, and saw a helicopter patrolling over nearby neighborhoods. The airport is adjacent to an air base used by Mali’s air force. A resident living near the airport also reported gunfire and three helicopters patrolling overhead. 

The US Embassy in Bamako issued a security alert citing reports of explosions and gunfire near Kati and the international airport, and urged US citizens to shelter in place and avoid travel there.

Residents in other cities in Mali reported gunfire and blasts on Saturday morning, suggesting a possible coordinated attack by armed groups.

Gunfire was also heard in Kati, the home of military ruler General Assimi Goita, witnesses and a security source told AFP,  as well as Gao, the main northern city, and Sevare in the centre of the landlocked nation.

Videos on social media showed militant convoys in trucks and motorcycles moving through the town’s deserted streets, while residents looked on fearfully. Other videos in the northern towns of Kidal and Gao showed gunfire exchanges in the streets, with dead bodies lying on the ground.

Gunmen entered Kidal, taking control of some neighborhoods and leading to exchanges of fire with the army, a former mayor of the town told AP over the phone. He spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear for his safety.

Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, a spokesperson for the Tuareg-led Azawad separatist movement, said on Facebook its forces had taken control of Kidal as well as some areas in Gao, another northeastern city. FRANCE 24 could not independently verify his claim.

Mali has been battling more than a decade of jihadist conflict and the military took power in two coups in 2020 and 2021.

Since 2012, it has been grappling with a security crisis over attacks by jihadist groups affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group and community-based criminal groups and separatists.

The military government, like its counterparts in neighbouring Niger and Burkina Faso, has severed ties with former colonial ruler France and several Western countries, to move closer politically and militarily to Russia. 

Russia’s Wagner Group, which had been fighting with Malian forces against jihadists since 2021, announced the end of its mission in June 2025, and has become the Africa Corps, an organisation under the direct control of the Russian defence ministry.

The junta has cracked down on critics and dissolved political parties.

It had pledged to hand over power to civilians by March 2024 but in July 2025, it granted Goïta a five-year presidential term, renewable “as many times as necessary” and without an election.

Since September, jihadists from the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims, an al-Qaeda affiliate known by its Arab acronym JNIM, have been attacking fuel tanker convoys, bringing the capital Bamako to a standstill at the height of the crisis in October.

Despite several months of calm, Bamako residents faced a diesel shortage in March, with fuel prioritised for use in the energy sector.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and AP)