Mali Crisis Deepens as Goïta Reappears and Rebels Target Northern Cities

Overview

• Coordinated assaults by Al‑Qaida‑linked JNIM and Tuareg separatists from the FLA on Saturday hit Bamako, Kati and key northern towns, killed Defence Minister Sadio Camara and left Kidal back in rebel hands.
• Assimi Goïta resurfaced Tuesday on state TV to declare the situation “mastered” after days out of view, even as he acknowledged an extremely grave security crisis.
• JNIM threatened Tuesday to blockade all roads into Bamako in a video statement, and the U.S. Embassy warned of possible militant movements inside the capital.
• FLA spokesman Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane said Wednesday the group will move on Gao, Timbuktu and Ménaka and predicted the junta will fall, while pressing for a full Russian withdrawal.
• Russia’s Africa Corps pulled out of Kidal after the rebel advance, the army abandoned some positions near Gao, Sky Mali halted flights to Gao and Mopti, and a hospital source counted at least 23 dead as civilians fled new fighting.