Intense fighting in northern Mali’s Kidal region between government forces and Azawad separatists has left at least 10 rebels dead, according to the Malian army. Meanwhile, the separatists claim to have inflicted heavy casualties on Malian troops and Russian-aligned mercenaries in a deadly two-day conflict.
The violence erupted Thursday with a government-led offensive targeting separatist positions in the remote, desert region. A day later, the army reported that a logistics convoy came under ambush, sparking a fierce exchange before troops pushed back the attack.
The Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA), a coalition of separatist groups seeking independence for northern Mali, claimed responsibility for the ambush. In a statement, it said its fighters had killed “dozens” of Malian soldiers and members of the Africa Corps, a Kremlin-controlled military force now active in Mali.
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For years, the separatists have been pressing for the creation of an autonomous Azawad state. They briefly seized control of large parts of northern Mali before a 2015 peace agreement attempted to integrate some of their fighters into the national military, a deal that has since unraveled.
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“We recovered 12 trucks loaded with cereals, tankers full of diesel, one military pickup, and one armored vehicles from the 30 vehicles in the convoy,” said CMA spokesperson Mohamed Maouloud Ramadan in an AP report. He acknowledged the loss of three fighters during the operation.
A yet-to-be-verified footage circulated online by the separatists showed burned-out army trucks, gun-toting masked men posing in the desert, and what appeared to be bodies in Malian military uniforms strewn across the sand as gunfire rang out.
The terrain in Kidal presents a major challenge for government forces, analysts say. According to Rida Lyammouri, a Sahel researcher at the Policy Center for the New South in Morocco, the geography favors armed groups.
“It’s difficult to gather actionable intelligence to protect their convoys, and this gives a significant advantage to armed and jihadist groups,” Lyammouri said.
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The confrontation unfolded shortly after Wagner, the notorious Russian mercenary group that supported Malian forces in counterinsurgency operations for over three years, announced its departure. The Russian Ministry of Defense, however, has stated that its Africa Corps will continue operations in Mali.
While U.S. officials estimate roughly 2,000 Russian-linked mercenaries remain in Mali, the precise split between Wagner loyalists and Africa Corps operatives remains unclear.
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