Mali was on the brink of collapse last year as al-Qaeda affiliate Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) unleashed attacks on the country. Then came a report that Jihad Watch covered yesterday about renewed attacks that injured 16 people, as efforts to create an Islamic state in Mali escalated. The new siege rapidly spiraled into much worse, with JNIM, ISIS and Northern rebels coordinating attacks. Mali’s defense minister was killed.
Mali’s military government, which Gen. Assimi Goïta leads, broke ties with France in 2021-2022 and hired the Russian Wagner Group (known as the Africa Corps) to fight the rebels. The siege also served as “a major blow to Russia as the mercenaries had no intelligence about the attacks and were unable to protect major cities.”
Mali now faces an existential threat, which Kurdistan24 News characterized as “a profound failure for Mali’s Russian-backed military junta, signalling severe regional instability.” The report continues:
Nationwide assaults represent the most severe security breach for Mali’s military junta since it assumed power, shattering the government’s narrative of territorial reconquest. By successfully penetrating the heart of the capital and capturing critical northern hubs, the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) and the Azawad Liberation Front have exploited a profound security vacuum left by the 2023 withdrawal of United Nations peacekeepers.
“Malian defense minister killed in attack that saw jihadis and rebels seize towns, military bases,” Associated Press, April 26, 2026:
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Mali ‘s defense minister was killed in a sweeping attack by jihadis and rebels who seized several towns and military bases, authorities said Sunday, the latest violence in the junta-run country that has long battled militants linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group as well as a separatist rebellion in the north.
The Malian government confirmed the death of the defense chief, Gen. Sadio Camara, in a post on the defense ministry’s Facebook page, and expressed its condolences to his family. State-run television also broadcast the announcement of his death by spokesman Gen. Issa Ousmane Coulibaly.
Mali was struck on Saturday by one of the biggest coordinated attacks on its army in the capital, Bamako, and several other cities and towns in an assault that also challenged Mali’s security partner, Russia, which has forces on the ground in the West African country.
The government said Sunday the attacks appear to be over, but several questions remain, including who was in control of a key northern city that the separatists claim to have taken.
The government has not provided a death toll from Saturday and previously said only that at least 16 people were wounded in what it denounced as terror attacks….
The latest news shows the strength of the advancing jihad force in the region, which “rejects the state’s authority, as it seeks to impose” Islam and sharia law.
Given the current existential threat to Mali, the UN is calling for urgent “coordinated international support” of Mali to prevent the complete collapse of the state.
Currently, however, although Mali’s constitution is secular, it now faces a parallel rule on the ground. In large areas of the north and central regions, jihadist-enforced Sharia is now operational.
Despite 1,400 years of evidence that still remains blatantly obvious, the Western left continues to perpetuate the claim that Islam is a religion of peace.
JS says
Who does the UN think will go in to Mali so”the nation doesn’t collapse?”
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Knowing the Russians, they’ll quickly patch up w/ the jihadists who take over Mali, and work w/ them. Assuming that the new regime in Bamako is remotely interested
I just hope Trump doesn’t deal w/ them the way he dealt w/ HTS in Syria