Army says situation under control after attacks across Mali

Insurgents launched attacks in Mali's capital and other locations across the country on Saturday, with the army urging people to remain calm as the military-led government faced one of the biggest operations yet in a long campaign against it.

A UN security note said there had been "simultaneous complex attacks" in Kati, near Bamako's airport and in cities and towns further north including Mopti, Gao and Kidal, while the US embassy in Mali urged its citizens to shelter in place.

Two explosions and sustained gunfire were heard shortly before 6:00 a.m. (0600 GMT) near Mali's main military base Kati, north of its capital Bamako, and shots were still ringing out in the area more than four hours later as army helicopters flew overhead, a Reuters witness and two residents said.

"There's gunfire everywhere," a witness in the central town of Sevare said. Two other witnesses said Defence Minister Sadio Camara's house in Kati was hit and destroyed.

Mali is battling insurgencies by the West African affiliates of al Qaeda and IS. It is also grappling with a much longer history of Tuareg-led rebellion in the north. The government led by Assimi Goita took power after coups in 2020 and 2021 vowing to restore security, but has struggled to do so.

Mali's army said shortly after 11:00 a.m. (1100 GMT) that the situation was under control but "sweeping operations" were ongoing. It was unclear if that applied to the whole country.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility from al Qaeda affiliate Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), which frequently stages attacks on military installations.

But four security sources told Reuters the group was involved and appeared to have coordinated with the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), a Tuareg-dominated rebel alliance that claimed responsibility for operations in Gao and Kidal.

In a statement distributed at around 9:00 a.m. (0900 GMT), the army said it was under attack by unidentified "terrorist" groups in multiple places.

FLA spokesperson Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane said on social media its forces had taken control of positions in Gao and one of two military camps in Kidal.

Reuters could not independently verify his claims.

"BIGGEST COORDINATED ATTACK FOR YEARS"

Saturday's attacks signal a potential escalation in the insurgency, which began in 2012 when Tuareg separatists and al Qaeda-linked fighters seized large swathes of northern Mali.

"This looks like the biggest coordinated attack for years," said Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel programme at Germany's Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

While the assault on Bamako might be repelled, losses in the north of Mali, including Kidal, were "a realistic possibility," said Benedict Manzin, lead Middle East and Africa analyst at strategic risk consultancy Sibylline.

"A major test for the regime today," said Manzin.