Malian army abandons positions in Gao region amid widespread attacks

This development follows unprecedented attacks across the country on Saturday by armed groups targeting the ruling junta. Gao is Mali's second military region, after Kati, the junta's stronghold near Bamako, which saw intense fighting over the weekend. An anonymous local official told AFP that soldiers withdrew from Labbezanga, near the Niger border, to Ansogo, a move confirmed by a local resident.

Mali is facing a critical security situation after coordinated attacks by jihadists from the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims JNIM, allied with Al-Qaeda and the Tuareg separatist rebellion of the Azawad Liberation Front FLA. The army's withdrawal from Gao positions comes as the key northern city of Kidal has also fallen back into the hands of armed groups. Kidal had been under rebel control for decades before being reclaimed by the Malian state in November 2023, following an army offensive supported by Russian paramilitary group Wagner fighters, now known as Africa Corps.

The ultimate goal of the armed groups remains unclear, but Malian Prime Minister Abdoulaye Maïga stated that "the enemy's goal was to seize power by dismantling the institutions of the Republic." These attacks have placed the Malian junta in a critical situation unprecedented since the 2020 coup: Defense Minister Sadio Camara was killed, and General Assimi Goïta, head of the junta, has not b