Africa-Press. Gunfire and explosions rocked Mali at dawn today, as gunmen attacked the capital, Bamako, and other cities in a potentially coordinated attack, prompting the US Embassy and the British Foreign Office to advise their citizens to remain in their homes.
The Malian army announced that it was fighting “terrorist groups” that attacked military barracks in the capital, Bamako, and other areas in that African country under military rule.
“Unidentified armed terrorist groups targeted certain sites and barracks in the capital and the interior regions at dawn today,” an army statement said, adding that soldiers are “currently working to eliminate the attackers.”
An Associated Press correspondent in Bamako said that he heard heavy gunfire from heavy weapons and automatic rifles coming from Modibo Keita International Airport, which is about 15 kilometers from the city center, and he also saw a helicopter flying over the surrounding neighborhoods.
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The airport is located next to an air base belonging to the Malian Air Force. A resident living near the airport also reported hearing gunfire and seeing 3 helicopters flying in the air.
In a telephone conversation with the Associated Press, the former mayor of Kidal said that armed men entered the city in the northeast of the country and took control of some neighborhoods, which led to an exchange of fire with the army.
A resident told the same agency over the phone, “The force of the explosions shakes the doors and windows of my house, and I feel extremely terrified.” He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of his safety. He added that the shooting came from the camp and the airport, which are adjacent.
A resident of Kati, a town near Bamako that includes Mali’s main military base, also said that he woke up at dawn to the sounds of gunfire and explosions.
For his part, Mohamed Mouloud Ramadane, spokesman for the Front for the Liberation of Azawad, said on Facebook that his forces took control of several areas in Kidal and Gao, another city located in the northeast of the country.
Separatist Azawad
The separatist Movement of Azawad has been waging an insurgency for years to establish the state of Azawad in northern Mali. It had previously expelled security forces from the region, before a 2015 peace agreement, which later collapsed, paved the way for the integration of some former rebels into the Malian army.
In 2024, an al-Qaeda-linked group claimed responsibility for an attack on Bamako airport and a military training camp in the capital, killing dozens.
Mali, along with its neighbors Niger and Burkina Faso, is waging a long-term war against armed groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, a war that has escalated over the past decade.
After the military coups, the military councils in the three countries turned from Western allies to Russia for help in combating these groups.
But the security situation in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso has deteriorated recently, according to analysts, with a record number of attacks launched by militants. Government forces were also accused of killing civilians on suspicion of collaborating with militants.
