{"id":913273,"date":"2026-07-05T02:51:29","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T02:51:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/913273\/"},"modified":"2026-07-05T02:51:29","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T02:51:29","slug":"malis-army-says-rebels-launch-new-attacks-on-towns-and-cities-armed-groups-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/913273\/","title":{"rendered":"Mali\u2019s army says rebels launch new attacks on towns and cities | Armed Groups News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Armed men have launched \u2060attacks in five \u2060locations across Mali, the army says, more than two months after gunmen attacked the capital and other parts of the country.<\/p>\n

The attacks took place on Saturday in areas including \u200ca northern town where government forces and Russian fighters are \u2060based, and \u2060a town south of \u2060the capital, \u2060Bamako, Mali\u2019s military and security sources said.<\/p>\n

The army said the attacks targeted Aguelhok, Anefis, and Gao in the north, Sevare in the central region, and Kenieroba in the south.<\/p>\n

In a follow-up statement later in the day, it said 20 \u201cterrorists\u201d had been killed in Sevare and six in Gao, adding that the situation is now \u201ctotally under control\u201d.<\/p>\n

One pro-government fighter was also killed in Gao and four were injured, the army statement added.<\/p>\n

The AFP news agency reported that a prison in Kenieroba, which is 74km (46 miles) from Bamako, was attacked, citing residents and security sources. It said the fighting in different locations started at about 5am local time (05:00 GMT).<\/p>\n

A separatist Tuareg-led armed \u2060group confirmed that it had attacked one of the towns early on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, a spokesperson for the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), told the Reuters news agency that fighters from the group \u2060attacked Anefis, which is \u2060in the northeastern Kidal region.<\/p>\n

Government and Russian troops deployed in Anefis in the wake of attacks on April 25 and 26<\/a>, in which the FLA and the regional al-Qaeda \u2060affiliate seized control of Kidal town.<\/p>\n

Mali has previously faced rebellions by armed groups affiliated with al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS), as well as a separatist rebellion in the country\u2019s north. The separatists have been fighting for years to create an independent state in northern Mali.<\/p>\n

Violence is widespread, despite promises from military leaders to stamp out the rebellion.<\/p>\n

\u2018Explosions rang out\u2019<\/p>\n

Earlier on Saturday, FLA\u2019s Ramadane told AFP that \u201cseveral positions have fallen, but fighting is still under way inside the city\u201d of Anefis.<\/p>\n

An Anefis resident contacted by AFP said \u201carmed groups are in the town, but the army is still putting up resistance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anefis and Aguelhok, both in the north, are reportedly the last locations where Mali\u2019s army maintains a presence in the Kidal region following the April attacks, having previously been driven from Kidal town.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, in Gao, a local official told Reuters that gunfire and rockets had been launched at a military \u200ccamp since before dawn. It was not immediately clear which fighters were responsible.<\/p>\n

In Sevare, a central town, \u201cexplosions rang out \u2026 around 5am, though their origin is not yet known. Shortly thereafter, several aircraft were spotted flying over the area,\u201d a security source told AFP.<\/p>\n

A Sevare resident told Reuters that early-morning gunfire was followed by four large explosions in the west of the city about 8am, with heavier detonations heard in the town about 10am.<\/p>\n

In Kenieroba in the south, the major prison complex was also under attack, a prisoner in the facility told AFP. A diplomatic source and a security source told Reuters that security forces repelled the assailants. A government spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s assault was the latest threat to the military-led government in the landlocked Sahel country, where rebels staged high-profile attacks in \u200cApril, hitting the airport in the capital, Bamako, killing the defence minister and seizing a string of army bases in the north. More recently, armed groups have also carried out a fuel blockade, starving the capital\u2019s residents and businesses of power and supplies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Armed men have launched \u2060attacks in five \u2060locations across Mali, the army says, more than two months after…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":913274,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5],"tags":[7779,211512,18296,113,214481,200303,50,103],"class_list":["post-913273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","tag-africa","tag-al-qaeda","tag-armed-groups","tag-conflict","tag-isil-isis","tag-mali","tag-news","tag-world"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116865105062893616","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/913273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=913273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/913273\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/913274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=913273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=913273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=913273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}