Fighting was also heard in the northern mountain town of Gao, seen here in a photograph – Copyright AFP/File Souleymane AG ANARA
The military in junta-ruled Mali on Saturday battled “terrorist groups” it said had launched attacks across the West African country wracked by more than a decade of jihadist conflict.
Witnesses reported fighting in the capital Bamako and other key cities in the landlocked country, where the military seized power in coups in 2020 and 2021.
An army statement said: “Terrorist groups, as yet unidentified, early in the morning targeted certain points and barracks in the capital and in the interior.”
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks. But the jihadists had already tried last year to cripple the capital by cutting off its fuel supply.
Fighting was reported in Bamako, the northern cities of Gao and Kidal and the central city of Sevare.
Heavy gunfire was also heard in Kati, on the outskirts of Bamako, where military ruler General Assimi Goita has his residence, witnesses said.
Residents of Kat have posted images on social networks showing their destroyed homes. “We are stuck in Kati,” a resident told AFP.
Helicopters buzz over Bamako, especially around the international airport.
The capital’s streets were deserted amid sporadic gunfire, an AFP correspondent reported.
– Jihadist riots –
The mountain has resources including gold and other valuable minerals. But since 2012, it has faced a security crisis over attacks by jihadist groups linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group and community-based criminal groups and separatists.
The military government, like its counterparts in neighboring Niger and Burkina Faso, has severed ties with former colonial ruler France and several Western countries to move closer politically and militarily to Russia.
It has also been criticized for restricting the media and silencing opposition activists. Goita’s administration has banned political parties.
The junta had pledged to hand over power to civilians by March 2024, but in July 2025, it gave Goita a five-year presidential term, renewable “whenever necessary” and without elections.
The administration of US President Donald Trump has sought to establish contact with the three juntas, however, while Togo has sought to act as a mediator between Western nations and the three countries, which have formed their own Alliance of Sahel States.
Thousands of people have died in attacks in Mali since the outbreak of jihadist unrest, and tens of thousands of Malians have sought refuge in neighboring countries, including Mauritania, in recent years.
The Russian Wagner Group, which had been fighting with Malian forces against jihadists since 2021, announced the end of its mission in June 2025 and transformed into the Africa Corps, an organization under the direct control of the Russian defense ministry.
Since September, jihadists from the Islamic and Muslim Support Group, an al-Qaeda affiliate known by its Arabic acronym JNIM, have attacked fuel tanker convoys, bringing the capital Bamako to a standstill at the height of the crisis in October.
Despite months of calm, Bamako residents faced an oil shortage in March, with the fuel prioritized for use in the power sector.
