Tuareg-led rebels attack northern Mali town hosting troops

A Tuareg-led insurgent group said on Saturday, July 4, it had attacked a town in northern Mali where government troops and Russian paramilitary forces are deployed, while residents in other parts of the country reported further violence.

The assault marks the latest security challenge for Mali’s military-led government in the landlocked Sahel state, where rebels have carried out a series of high-profile operations in recent months. In April, insurgents struck the airport in the capital, Bamako, killed the defence minister and captured several army bases in the north.

Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, spokesperson for the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), told Reuters that fighters from the group had attacked the town of Anefis in the northeastern Kidal region early on Saturday.

Government forces and Russian paramilitary personnel had been deployed to Anefis following the April offensive, during which the FLA and a regional al-Qaeda affiliate took control of Kidal town.

Separately, in the central city of Gao, a local official said gunfire and rockets had been directed at a military camp since before dawn on Saturday. It was not immediately clear which group was responsible for that attack.

Residents in two other localities in northern and central Mali also reported hearing gunfire and explosions, underscoring the spread of insecurity across multiple regions.

By Tamilla Hasanova