BAMAKO, April 27 (Reuters) – Al Qaeda’s West Africa affiliate said on Monday that Mali’s army was withdrawing from the northern town of Tessit, as the insurgents press an offensive that began with weekend attacks near the capital and across the country.
The announcement came two days after the affiliate known as JNIM and another rebel group claimed responsibility for assaults that, among other targets, hit the main army base outside Bamako in the south and killed the defence minister.
A spokesperson for Mali’s government and a spokesperson for Mali’s army did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
News of fresh rebel gains will fuel concerns about the stability of the landlocked Sahel country that has battled Islamist insurgents for more than a decade and weathered three coups since 2012.
RUSSIAN PARAMILITARIES LEAVE TOWN FURTHER NORTH
In Monday’s statement, JNIM – Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin – said it was allowing Malian forces in Tessit to hand over their weapons and withdraw safely.
Earlier on Monday, Africa Corps, a paramilitary group controlled by Russia’s Defence Ministry, said its forces had withdrawn from the town of Kidal, around 375 km north of Tessit, after fierce fighting there at the weekend.
Mali’s military government, led by Assimi Goita, has pursued closer defence cooperation with Russia while spurning Western partners since taking power following coups in 2020 and 2021.
Goita has not been seen in public or made any statements since the attacks on Saturday.
ARMY SAYS FORCES REPOSITIONING AROUND KIDAL
Mali’s army chief of staff, General Oumar Diarra, told the state broadcaster on Sunday night that the military had tactically repositioned forces in Kidal and that operations in the area were ongoing.
Kidal is a former stronghold of the Azawad Liberation Front, or FLA, a Tuareg-dominated rebel group that worked with JNIM to carry out Saturday’s attacks, which analysts and diplomats described as the largest coordinated insurgent assault in Mali in years.
Bamako has not provided an overall death toll for the violence. In a statement broadcast on state television, a government spokesperson on Sunday expressed condolences for “all civilian and military victims who died,” without providing a number.
(Reporting by Bamako newsroom and Anait Miridzhanian; Additional reporting by Jessica Donati; Writing by Robbie Corey-Boulet; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
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