As Mali\u2019s military government battles to reassert control, spokesperson for Tuareg rebels says it will fall \u2018sooner or later\u2019.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Published On 29 Apr 2026<\/span>29 Apr 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Mali\u2019s Tuareg rebels, involved in a continuing uprising, including the assassination of the country\u2019s defence minister, have said they want to drive the military government\u2019s Russian backers out of the country.<\/p>\n Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, a spokesperson for the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), told the AFP news agency during a visit to Paris to meet French security and defence officials that his movement\u2019s \u201cobjective\u201d was for Russia\u2019s Africa Corps to \u201cwithdraw permanently\u201d from the country.<\/p>\n list of 3 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n Russian fighters backed the military government of President Assimi Goita, as it came under coordinated attack from an alliance of Tuareg separatists, Fulani and Arab rebels, and al-Qaeda-linked fighters, who entered the capital Bamako and made gains across several northern and central cities, including Kidal and Sevare.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have no particular problem with Russia, nor with any other country. Our problem is with the regime that governs Bamako,\u201d Ramadane told AFP as he sought support from France, the former colonial power whose troops were forced out by Mali\u2019s military rulers in 2022.<\/p>\n He said the rebels viewed Russia\u2019s intervention negatively because they \u201csupported people who committed serious crimes and massacres\u201d, referring to Goita\u2019s government, which seized power in a coup in 2020.<\/p>\n The rebel alliance, including the FLA and the al-Qaeda-linked JNIM, launched a coordinated offensive in multiple cities on Saturday.<\/p>\n Mali\u2019s defence minister, Sadio Camara, was killed in an assault on his home at his residence in Kati, a garrison town near Bamako, which is home to several senior government officials. The Malian government said he was killed by a \u201ccar bomb driven by a suicide bomber\u201d.<\/p>\n His funeral will be held on Thursday at 10am (09:00GMT).<\/p>\n Amid the attacks on Saturday, Russian fighters were seen driving out of the northern town of Kidal in trucks, reportedly after negotiating their exit through the mediation of neighbouring Algeria.<\/p>\n Ramadane said the Russians had asked for a secure corridor to withdraw and were escorted to Anefis southwest of Kidal. \u201cThe Russians found themselves in danger. There was no way out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Russia\u2019s Ministry of Defence had earlier said the withdrawal from Kidal was a decision by the Malian government, adding that units stationed in the city had \u201cfought for more than 24 hours \u2026 and repelled four massive attacks\u201d.<\/p>\n Goita said on Tuesday evening that military operations would continue until the \u201carmed groups\u201d were \u201cneutralised\u201d.<\/p>\n On Wednesday, the news agency Reuters reported that Malian forces were back in control of the town of Menaka, near the Niger border, saying fighters with ISIL affiliate in Sahel Province (ISSP) had retreated after clashes with the army.<\/p>\n Military presence was also reported in Mali\u2019s central Mopti region and in Gao, the biggest city in northern Mali.\u00a0Tensions remained high in the central town of Sevare.<\/p>\n Ramadane maintained the regime would fall \u201csooner or later\u201d, adding that the rebels now intend to take control of Gao, Timbuktu and Menaka following the capture of Kidal.<\/p>\n The FLA, he claimed, was ready to govern major cities in the north by applying a \u201cmoderate form of Sharia law\u201d similar to that in Mauritania and relying on qadis, Islamic judges who render decisions based on Islamic law.<\/p>\n France urged its nationals in\u00a0Mali\u00a0to leave \u201cas soon as possible\u201d on Wednesday, saying the security situation remained volatile.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n As Mali\u2019s military government battles to reassert control, spokesperson for Tuareg rebels says it will fall \u2018sooner or later\u2019. Published On 29 Apr 202629 Apr 2026 Mali\u2019s Tuareg rebels, involved in a continuing uprising, including the assassination of the country\u2019s defence minister, have said they want to drive the military government\u2019s Russian backers out of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20848,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20847"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20847\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/2017-06-08T131939Z_1189275883_RC11B0FE7F20_RTRMADP_3_GULF-QATAR-JAZEERA-1714943623.jpg?resize=96%2C96&quality=80)
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