Malians respond to the death of defence Minister Sadio Camara

Malians have been reacting to the death of the Mininster of Defence Sadio Camara over the weekend. The 47 year old Camara a key junta member, was killed on Saturday in a car bomb attack at his home in Kati, the government said in a late Sunday statement.

The key Malian town of Kidal is now under the control of Tuareg rebels, according to sources close to the government and local residents.

Tuareg separatists and jihadists have seized Kidal following coordinated assaults on crucial junta positions, as reported by an ally of the local governor and other local sources.

"We have vacated Kidal. We are no longer present there. The jihadists and the FLA (Azawad Liberation Front) now control Kidal," a source close to the governor informed AFP.

Residents also confirmed to AFP that they witnessed the Malian army and the Russian mercenaries supporting them leaving the town.

The junta is facing an unprecedented crisis since the 2020 coup that brought it to power, particularly after the death of Defence Minister Sadio Camara, and military leader General Assimi Goita has not been seen or heard from publicly since the conflict began.

On Saturday, several strategic towns and regions around Bamako were targeted in a dawn offensive by Tuareg rebels from the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) coalition and the Al-Qaeda-affiliated jihadist group, the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM).

Mali has been engulfed in violence for over a decade, but analysts believe these attacks represent the most significant challenge to the ruling authorities since a March 2012 offensive that was thwarted by French military intervention, which has since concluded.

In a further setback for the junta, FLA rebels, a separatist faction claiming the Azawad territory in northern Mali, announced they have achieved "total" control over the vital city of Kidal in the north.

They also stated that they had reached an "agreement" that would allow Russian mercenaries from the Africa Corps, which is under Moscow's control, to withdraw from Kidal.

Kidal had been under the influence of rebel groups for many years before being recaptured by the state in November 2023, following a Malian army offensive supported by fighters from the Africa Corps' predecessor, the Wagner Group.

A local official indicated that the Russians are expected to exit the country through Libya.

The Alliance of Sahel States (AES), which includes Mali and its junta-led neighbors Burkina Faso and Niger, condemned the attacks as "a monstrous scheme supported by the adversaries of the Sahel's liberation".

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres denounced the "acts of violence" occurring in Mali and called for "coordinated international assistance to tackle the growing threat of violent extremism and terrorism in the Sahel and to address urgent humanitarian needs," as stated by spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

The European Union has also condemned these attacks.