Rebel Coalition Launches Major Offensive Across Mali, Seizes Northern Towns and Attacks Capital Region

Al-Qaeda-affiliated assailants struck two villages in Mali’s Mopti region on Wednesday, killing at least 30 people in the deadliest assault since a coordinated offensive began late last month. Local, security and administrative sources told AFP the attacks targeted the villages of Korikori and Gomossogou on May 6 2026.

Three other sources, including an aid worker, a diplomat and a security source, separately reported to Reuters that assailants hit two unnamed localities in the same region the same day, killing at least 50.

The latest violence came one day after armed fighters stormed the Kenieroba Central Prison, a recently built complex located about 60km southwest of Bamako that houses 2,500 prisoners, including at least 72 inmates considered high value by the Malian state.

A wave of attacks began in Mali on April 25 and 26 2026 when Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, an al-Qaeda-linked group known as JNIM, joined forces with the Tuareg-dominated rebel group Azawad Liberation Front. During that offensive, fighters drove a car laden with explosives into the residence of Defence Minister Sadio Camara, killing him, Malian army commander Djibrilla Maiga said.

The same fighters targeted the home of Assimi Goita. Security forces contained the threat and defused the vehicle at Assimi Goita’s home, Maiga added. Fighters seized the town of Kidal and the strategic base of Tessalit in the north, driving Russian troops aligned with Mali’s leaders from the strategic northern town of Kidal.

Malian forces have neutralised several hundred terrorists since the April 25 2026 attacks, Maiga stated. JNIM announced it would attempt to impose a blockade on Bamako by setting up checkpoints on roads leading there. Maiga said the fighters were focusing on roads leading to Kayes and Kita.