Mali news: Doors and windows 'rocked by blasts' as 'coordinated attack' sweep cities

Gunmen attacked several locations in Mali’s capital and other cities early Saturday in a possible coordinated assault, residents and authorities said. Mali’s army said in a statement on April 25 “unidentified armed terrorist groups targeted certain locations and barracks in the capital.” It added that soldiers were “currently engaged in eliminating the attackers.”

Mali has been plagued by insurgencies fought by affiliates of al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, as well as a separatist rebellion in the north, but it is currently unclear who is behind these new attacks. Heavy weapons and automatic rifle gunfire were heard coming from Modibo Keïta International Airport, around 9 miles from the centre of Mali’s capital, Bamako. The airport is adjacent to the Kati air base used by Mali’s air force. Helicopters were also seen patrolling over the area, the AP reports.

Residents in other cities in Mali reported gunfire and blasts on Saturday morning, suggesting a possible coordinated attack by armed groups.

Gunmen entered the northeastern city of Kidal, taking control of some neighbourhoods and leading to gunfire exchanges with the army, a former local mayor told AP.

A resident of Gao said gunfire and explosions started in the early hours of Saturday and could still be heard in the late morning.

They said: “The force of the explosions is making the doors and windows of my house shake. I’m scared out of my wits.”

A resident of Kati, a town near Bamako that is home to Mali’s main military base, also said he was woken up early in the morning by the sounds of gunfire and explosions.

The Azawad separatist movement has been fighting for years to create the state of Azawad in northern Mali.

They once drove security forces from the region, before a 2015 peace deal that has since collapsed paved the way for some ex-rebels to be integrated into the Malian military.

Mali is currently ruled by a military junta led by Gen Assimi Goïta, who first seized power in a coup in 2020, promising to restore security and push back armed groups.