Situation in Mali: Military leader makes first statement after attacks; Russians accused of "betrayal" following the fall of a northern city
Kyiv • UNN
Assimi Goïta vows to neutralize rebels after their capture of the city of Kidal. A Malian official accused Russian forces of betrayal and a secret retreat.
The leader of Mali's military government, Assimi Goïta, made his first public appearance on Tuesday since rebels launched coordinated attacks over the weekend, vowing in a televised address to "neutralize" those responsible, UNN reports, citing Reuters.
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On Saturday, Al-Qaeda's West African branch and a Tuareg-dominated separatist group attacked Mali's main military base and an area near Bamako airport, and also pushed Russian troops supporting government forces out of the strategically important northern city of Kidal, the publication writes.
According to RFI, a Malian official accused Russian forces of "betraying" Bamako after the fall of Kidal to the rebels—a strategically important northern city long considered a symbol of control over Mali's restive north.
"The Russians betrayed us in Kidal," said one high-ranking Malian official after the Russian "Africa Corps," a Kremlin-controlled paramilitary formation that replaced "Wagner" in Mali, confirmed its withdrawal.
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The official said the regional governor had warned the Russian mercenaries "three days before the attack," but that "they did nothing," adding that their departure appeared to have been coordinated in advance.
Malian troops, Russian paramilitaries, and official civilian authorities have now left Kidal and moved to Gao, the largest city in northern Mali, leaving Kidal under the full control of JNIM and the FLA, RFI notes.
Fighters from the Russian "Africa Corps" were stationed in Kidal, but instead of defending the city, they retreated with their equipment after negotiations with the city's new rulers, the publication writes. They later confirmed they had received permission to leave.
This withdrawal marks a significant reversal, the publication observes. Malian forces, supported by Russian paramilitaries, had retaken Kidal in November 2023 after years of control by Tuareg rebels.
Reports also suggest that Russian troops may be preparing to withdraw from other northern positions, RFI writes.
As Reuters notes, the attacks have sparked a scramble for territory in Mali's vast desert north, raising the prospect of significant gains for armed groups that are showing an increasing willingness to strike neighboring countries and, according to analysts, could eventually target more distant territories, the publication points out.
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Mali's Defense Minister Sadio Camara was killed in Saturday's terrorist attacks.
Goïta did not appear in public until his office released photos of his meeting with Russian Ambassador Igor Gromyko on Tuesday afternoon.
The two men "discussed the current situation and the strong partnership between Bamako and Moscow," and Gromyko "reaffirmed his country's commitment to supporting Mali in the fight against international terrorism," according to a post on Goïta's office social media accounts.
Goïta also visited a hospital where those wounded in Saturday's attacks are being treated and expressed condolences to Camara's family, his office said.
He then delivered a brief address on the evening news, stating that "the situation is under control" and saying that operations would continue until the "complete neutralization of the groups involved" in the attacks is achieved.
The scale of the offensive, which affected multiple sites across the West African country, demonstrated an unprecedented ability of groups with different goals to act together and strike at the heart of the military government, the publication notes.
In a video message distributed on Tuesday, a representative of the Al-Qaeda affiliate, the group Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), boasted of Saturday's violence and called it revenge for drone strikes and other attacks carried out by Malian forces.
The representative, Bina Diarra, also threatened to launch a siege of Bamako, a city of 4 million people.
"From today, Bamako is closed from all sides," his message said.
Last year, JNIM imposed a fuel blockade on Bamako, but it had been eased in the period leading up to Saturday's attacks.
On Tuesday, Russia claimed that jihadist and separatist forces in Mali were regrouping after Russian troops helped prevent what it called an attempted coup on Saturday, stopping rebels from seizing key sites, including the presidential palace.
"The enemy has not abandoned its aggressive intentions and is now regrouping," the Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
Russian troops are conducting active reconnaissance operations to destroy rebel field camps and are ready to repel further attacks, the ministry added.
Moscow's reaction to these attacks is being closely watched across the continent and beyond at a time when its forces are occupied with fighting in Ukraine, and it is trying to strengthen its role as a security guarantor for friendly, resource-rich governments in Africa, the publication writes.
Mali turned to Russia for support after expelling French and American troops following coups in 2020 and 2021.
While Malian forces struggled to organize a defense in the north, militants from the West African branch of the Islamic State entered the northeastern city of Menaka, five sources said on Tuesday.
The group, known as the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), did not participate in Saturday's fighting. However, according to two local residents, two security analysts, and a representative of the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), its fighters were in Menaka, near the border with Niger, as of Tuesday morning.
One local resident reported that militants had set up checkpoints in some areas, while Malian soldiers had moved to a nearby camp.
Another resident reported seeing jihadists coming and going in small groups on motorcycles but said there was no shooting and people continued to move around the city.
None of the sources reported direct clashes.
ISGS and JNIM have been at war with each other for years. Since the first clashes in 2019, the two groups have clashed hundreds of times, resulting in more than 2,100 deaths, according to data from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data project.