Even before Bamako fully woke up, explosions shattered the morning calm. It was just past 6 a.m., local time, when two powerful blasts rang out near Kati, the military‑garrison town on the outskirts of the capital that hosts the country’s main military base and the residence of the head of state, General Assimi Goïta. Within minutes, sustained gunfire confirmed what many had long feared: Mali had entered a new phase in its armed conflict.
This was no isolated attack. It was a nationwide offensive. In the same time frame, clashes erupted in Gao and Kidal in the north, in Sévaré in the centre, and armed troop movements were reported in the suburbs of Bamako. Several military barracks and strategic installations were struck simultaneously. The Malian army confirmed the offensive in a terse statement, calling on the population to “remain calm and vigilant.”
Two groups are behind this operation, unprecedented in scale. On one side is the Front de libération de l’Azawad (FLA), a predominantly Tuareg alliance that demands the independence of the north under the name “Azawad.” On the other is Jama’at Nusrat al‑Islam wal‑Muslimeen (JNIM), the regional arm of Al‑Qaeda in the Sahel. Videos shared by France 24 showed JNIM fighters entering Bamako and Kati. The FLA’s spokesperson, Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, declared on social media that FLA forces had seized several key positions in Kidal and Gao.
This coordination must be placed in context. Historically, the two groups have very different objectives: the Tuareg separatists seek an Azawad state, while JNIM pursues a Salafi‑jihadist project. Yet, faced with the Malian army reinforced by Russian paramilitary contractors from Africa Corps, they have clearly identified a common enemy strong enough to temporarily override their ideological differences.
A precedent—less dramatic but still significant—had already occurred in February, when the FLA and JNIM struck almost simultaneously at the same military convoy in the north. But the operation on 25 April is of a different order: several hundred fighters mobilised, six cities targeted at once, and direct strikes at the very gates of power. Nothing since the major offensives of 2012 has cast such a direct threat over Bamako.
The house of Defence Minister Sadio Camara in Kati was destroyed. An army helicopter was shot down in Gao. The U.S. embassy has urged its citizens to remain confined at home.
By late morning, the armed forces’ general staff issued a second communiqué, asserting that “the situation is under control” and that multiple attackers had been neutralised by air strikes. The credibility of this statement remains difficult to assess, however, as gunfire continued to be reported in several districts of the capital.