Mali Rebels Strike Major Blow Against Junta and Russia's Africa Corps

A rare joint offensive by Tuareg separatists and militants linked to Al Qaeda in Mali over the weekend represented a major setback for the West African country’s military regime and its Russian paramilitary partners.

No death toll has been confirmed by the two groups that claimed responsibility for the attacks: JNIM , the Qaeda-linked group; and the Azawad Liberation Front, an armed separatist movement of the Tuareg ethnic minority.

The insurgent groups targeted military barracks and security installations in at least five key cities across Mali: Kati, Mopti-Sévaré, Gao, Kidal and Bamako, the capital. Maj. Gen. Oumar Diarra, chief of the general staff of Mali’s military, told state-run TV on Sunday that more than 200 terrorists had been killed. A government spokesman said the attack had killed civilians and soldiers, but did not say how many.

The country’s powerful defense minister, Lt. Gen. Sadio Camara, was also killed in the coordinated attacks. General Camara was considered a key liaison between the Malian Army and Russian paramilitary forces.

Fighting continued in some areas on Monday, in a major escalation of insurgent violence in the Sahel, a vast region in West Africa where military leaders had seized power in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger in recent years.

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