JNIM and FLA Fighters Seize Tessalit Base, Set Up Checkpoints Near Bamako

Al-Qaeda-linked rebel fighters have set up checkpoints around Mali’s capital, Bamako, and seized the town of Tessalit in the north. Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) called on Malians to rise up to bring down the junta and adopt Islamic law.

A series of attacks by JNIM and Tuareg separatists from the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) resulted in the killing of Mali’s defence minister, Sadio Camara.

Videos shared on social media by local accounts on Friday show armed fighters inside the Amachach base in Tessalit, with several military vehicles driving around. Video verified by Reuters shows fighters driving through Tessalit and raising the FLA flag.

Media outlets close to the Azawad armed movement stated that fighters are in control of the Amachach base in Tessalit following the withdrawal of elements of the army and Russia’s African Corps.

JNIM captured the base of Hombori in central Mali. JNIM took over two checkpoints near Bamako. JNIM threatened to completely besiege Bamako. Smoke rises at a military base in Hombori, Mali, in a still image from an undated social media video released April 30, 2026.

Russia’s African Corps delivered ammunition and other items to Malian military personnel at a base in Hombori using helicopters on Thursday. Soldiers of the Malian Armed Forces injured in battles with terrorists were evacuated from Hombori on Thursday. Russia’s African Corps stated that JNIM's claim about the abandonment of the Hombori base was not true.

JNIM and FLA continue to regroup, conduct reconnaissance of bases of units of the African Corps of the Russian Armed Forces and the Malian Army, and conduct propaganda work aimed at reducing the morale of the Malian Army, according to Russia’s African Corps.

Four major military camps in the north of Mali are in the hands of armed groups, Al Jazeera’s Nicolas Haque reported. Russia is the principal foreign backer of Mali’s military-run government.

Mali’s military leaders seized power in coups in 2020 and 2021, with a brief period of civilian rule in between.