Coordinated attacks hit Bamako and cities across Mali, airport shut

Gunfire and explosions forced the shutdown of Bamako’s airport as armed groups struck the capital and several cities across Mali, a sweeping assault that security officials described as one of the most coordinated in years.

The attacks on Saturday reached Kati, near Modibo Keita International Airport and the main military base, and spread north to Gao, Kidal and Sevare. A U.N. security note described the violence as simultaneous complex attacks. Mali’s army said unidentified armed terrorist groups targeted military positions and barracks in the capital and in the interior, then said the situation was under control while sweeping operations continued.

Residents and journalists reported heavy gunfire near the airport, and the closure of the country’s main international gateway underscored how quickly the violence cut into civilian life and state mobility. U.S. officials urged American citizens to shelter in place, and the U.S. Bureau of African Affairs later condemned the attack and said it remained committed to peace, stability and security in Mali and the wider region.

Authorities did not immediately name a culprit, but four security sources said Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, the al Qaeda-linked group known as JNIM, was involved and appeared to have coordinated with the Azawad Liberation Front, a Tuareg-dominated rebel alliance. The FLA said it had taken positions in Gao and one of two military camps in Kidal, though that claim could not be independently verified. Fighting in Kidal was reported around the governor’s residence and military positions, adding to the sense that the assault reached into symbols of state authority as well as battlefield sites.

The scale of the offensive recalled Mali’s longer insurgency, which began in 2012 when Tuareg separatists and al Qaeda-linked fighters seized much of northern Mali. Since then, the country has cycled through military rule and persistent rebellion. Assimi Goita’s government came to power in coups in 2020 and 2021 promising to restore security, but the attacks showed how far militants still are from being contained.

The assault also carried regional weight. Mali sits at the center of the Sahel security crisis, alongside Burkina Faso and Niger, where military governments have battled extremist violence and increasingly turned to Russia for support. A coordinated strike on Bamako, combined with pressure in the north, signals that armed groups still have the reach to challenge capitals, disrupt transport and test the stability of an entire region.