What you need to know about the renewed attack in Mali | Articles of Controversy

Mali’s armed forces are controlled by the military they have started it also led to the attacks that took place in several towns in the country.

The strikes on Saturday targeted military bases, including facilities used by its own and Russian forces.

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The Tuareg separatist group and al-Qaeda affiliate claimed responsibility for the attacks, which came two months after the capital Bamako and several other areas were attacked by the same groups.

Here’s what you need to know:

Where did the attacks take place?

In the first statement, the Malian army confirmed the attack on five places: in Aguelhok, Anefis and Gao in the north; Sevare in central Mali; and Kenieroba in the south.

The army later said that the situation was “under control”, adding that 20 “terrorists” were killed in Sevare and six in Gao. One pro-government fighter was killed in Gao and four others were wounded, it said.

In a statement later on Saturday, the army said it had also put an end to insurgency in the central towns of Konna and Somadougou with the help of the Africa Corps, a Russian-backed force.

Footage posted on the Africa Corps’ Telegraph on Sunday is said to show a drone strike targeting rebels in Anefis and a Russian soldier on top of a building in Aguelhok. These images have not been independently verified.

In Kenieroba, the main prison where members of the political opposition in Mali are being held was reportedly attacked.

Who was behind the attacks?

A spokesman for the most powerful Tuareg rebel group, the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), told Reuters news agency that it was responsible for the attacks.

The al-Qaeda-linked group Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) also claimed responsibility, saying it had attacked and taken control of at least seven positions held by the military or government fighters. Objectives could not be determined independently.

Who are these groups?

JNIM was founded in 2017 as an alliance between the Sahara branch of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and the Malian militias Ansar Dine, Katina Macina and al-Mourabitoun.

It is led by Iyad Ag Ghali, who founded Ansar Dine in 2012, and has fighters on the borders of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.

The main objective of JNIM is to occupy and control the territories and remove the Western influences from its territory. Some experts say that JNIM wants to control the big cities and, eventually, control the whole country.

The FLA was established in 2024 from a coalition of separatist groups in northern Mali. Under the leadership of Alghabass Ag Intalla, it is participating in the latest Tuareg rebel group fighting for autonomy and independence.

Although often at odds, fighters from the two groups or their leaders have sometimes joined forces to fight common enemies, namely the Malian government and its allies.

At the end of April, they were behind the list of coordinated attack which targeted areas in Mali and killed Minister of Defense Sadio Camara.

What is security in Mali?

Since gaining independence in 1960, Mali has experienced political instability and instability, fueled by insurgency, economic crisis and military insurgency.

In 2012, Tuareg separatists, allied with the terrorist group al-Qaeda, launched an insurgency that took over the north of the country.

But al-Qaeda-linked rebels quickly routed the Tuareg rebels and captured major northern cities, prompting the French military’s intervention in early 2013 at the government’s request.

In September 2013, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was elected President of Mali. Under his government, the United Nations disrupted a peace deal between the government and northern Tuareg groups fighting for the independence of Azawad in 2015.

Keita was ousted from power in August 2020 after months of mass protests over economic problems and security instability.

In September of that year, retired colonel and former defense minister, Bah Ndaw, was sworn in as interim president and rebel leader Assimi Goita as vice president to lead a transitional government.

In May 2021, Goita seized power in a second coup and promised to restore security. His government cut ties with Mali’s former colonial ruler, France, and expelled French troops and UN peacekeepers.

In December 2021, Goita called on the Russian army of Wagner to support the military government in the fight against armed groups.

In June last year, Wagner announced that he would leave Mali after more than three and a half years of being deployed there, but Russian troops remain in the country under the flag of the Africa Corps.

Alex Vines, head of the Africa program at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told Al Jazeera that the recent attacks have forced the Malian authorities to be “in a safe environment”.

“This has not established total security,” he said, noting that the country’s armed forces have been coordinating their military operations rather than competing against each other.

“At this point, foreign military aid is not going well,” he added.