Militant Attacks Strike Mali, Clashes Erupt Near Bamako Airport

(MENAFN) Coordinated militant attacks struck multiple strategic locations across Mali in the early hours of Saturday, with fierce clashes still raging near the Senou military camp, adjacent to Bamako-Senou International Airport, after assaults launched simultaneously at approximately 5:20 a.m. local time.

The strikes hit a sweeping range of targets — Bamako's Senou and Kati districts, as well as Sevare, Mopti, Gao, and Kidal — pointing to a meticulously planned, nationwide operation. Among the reported targets were Bamako's main international airport and the defense minister's official residence in Kati, while the northern city of Kidal was engulfed in intense combat.

Civilians described scenes of chaos, reporting explosions and sustained gunfire erupting across multiple neighborhoods.

Mali's military moved swiftly to address the nation, confirming the scale of the assault:

"The General Staff of the Armed Forces informs the national public that unidentified armed terrorist groups targeted certain strategic points and barracks in the capital and in the interior early this morning. Combat is ongoing … We call on the population to remain calm and vigilant. Our defense and security forces are currently engaged in annihilating the attackers."

Saturday's violence is the latest chapter in a prolonged security crisis that has gripped Mali since 2012, with armed groups having previously struck Kati and the Senou airport corridor as recently as 2024.

The landlocked West African nation is currently governed by transitional president Gen. Assimi Goïta, who has held effective control since seizing power in a second military coup in May 2021, when he ousted the preceding interim administration and assumed command of the transitional government.

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