A significant and symbolic defeat unfolded this past Sunday, April 26, in Kidal, northeastern Mali. Russian mercenaries from the Africa Corps, who succeeded the Wagner Group in 2025 and are allied with the Bamako junta, unexpectedly withdrew. Humiliating visuals circulated on social media depicted Africa Corps personnel, disarmed and loaded into trucks, making a hasty exit under pressure from the GSIM (Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims), also known as JNIM, and their Tuareg rebel allies from the Front de libération de l’Azawad (FLA). The departure was so rapid that dozens of armored vehicles and helicopters were abandoned, falling into the hands of the jihadists and Tuareg rebels. Additionally, several Malian soldiers were captured following brief skirmishes.
Since Saturday, the Sahelian nation has been engulfed by a series of coordinated assaults launched by GSIM jihadists, an Al-Qaïda affiliate, in alliance with the FLA Tuareg separatist rebellion. These attacks targeted strategic junta positions across the country, including areas bordering the capital, Bamako.
A strategic reversal
On Monday, the Russia-backed Africa Corps paramilitary organization confirmed its forces had pulled out of Kidal, a city in northern Mali. This withdrawal marks a significant victory for the FLA rebels, who had previously witnessed Wagner Group mercenaries seize the city and proudly display their black flag with a white skull eighteen months prior, in November 2023. For the Russian allies of the junta, this represents a bitter failure. According to Djenabou Cissé, an associate researcher at the Fondation pour la recherche stratégique, “The only genuine strategic success the Russians had achieved since their arrival in Mali in 2021 was precisely the capture of Kidal, a historic Tuareg stronghold.” Its recent fall signals a clear repudiation of their efforts.
The synchronized GSIM attacks also struck the capital, Bamako, as well as Kati, home to the country’s primary military base, and Gao, a former UN base. In total, at least six Malian cities were targeted.
Since 2021, Mali has been governed by a military junta that seized power through a coup in the same year. Concurrently, the nation has endured years of siege by the Al-Qaïda-affiliated jihadist group, which contributed to the region becoming the global epicenter of terrorism and its victims in 2025, as per a report by the Institute for Economics and Peace think tank. Since the summer of 2025, jihadists have inflicted numerous defeats upon Malian armed forces and their Russian partners, notably imposing blockades around the capital in an attempt to economically strangle it.
Long-standing ineffectiveness
To counter the jihadist advance, Malian military leaders enlisted Russian mercenaries, initially with Wagner from 2021 and subsequently with Africa Corps from 2025. However, the violence has only escalated. Disturbingly, some of the most heinous attacks against civilians have been attributed to Russian mercenaries and elements of the Malian army. Since 2021, various reports from the United Nations and the International Federation for Human Rights have documented a surge in conflict-related sexual violence, perpetrated by Malian defense and security forces and their Russian auxiliaries.
According to Wassim Nasr, an expert on jihadist movements, “It has long been evident that Russian mercenaries were ineffective as counter-terrorism partners, whether under the Wagner Group or now within Africa Corps. Saturday’s attacks merely underscored these persistent challenges.”
Over the recent weekend, videos emerging from across Mali revealed the extensive scope of the attacks. In Kidal, jihadists stormed the governor’s office. Meanwhile, in Bamako, residents observed GSIM fighters entering the city with seemingly no resistance. On the outskirts of the capital, in Kati, the junta’s headquarters, a bomb attack destroyed the home of Defense Minister Sadio Camara, who tragically lost his life in the offensive.
Allegations of “betrayal in Kidal”
On Monday, Prime Minister Abdoulaye Maïga addressed the press, paying tribute to Defense Minister Sadio Camara while striving to reassure the populace. In a brief televised address, his first appearance since the jihadist offensive began on Saturday, President and junta leader Assimi Goïta declared on Tuesday evening that the situation was “under control,” indicating that operations would continue until “the complete neutralization of the groups involved” in the attacks.
However, the perceived failure of the Famas (Malian Armed Forces) and Africa Corps soldiers is already being questioned within Mali, despite limited freedom of expression. An unnamed Malian officer indicated that “The Russians betrayed us in Kidal.” According to this officer, the regional governor had alerted the Russian mercenaries “three days before the attack, and they did nothing. In reality, they had already negotiated their departure.” If the Russians have indeed departed Kidal, they are reportedly on the verge of withdrawing from other northern locations, a move that could further destabilize the regular Malian army.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov, during his daily briefing on Tuesday, April 28, declined to comment on whether the Africa Corps could regain control of the situation. Nevertheless, he asserted that their forces had prevented FLA and GSIM fighters from executing a coup attempt in Mali.