(FILES) Colonel Sadio Camara, Minister of Defense and Veterans of Mali, is seen at the meeting of Ministers of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), Ouagadougou, February 15, 2024. Mali's defence minister died after an attack on his house, his family said on April 26, 2026, as the army fought a second day of battles with jihadist fighters and separatist rebels near the capital Bamako and other cities, putting the Sahel nation's ruling junta under severe pressure. Defence Minister Sadio Camara, his second wife and two of his grandchildren died after a car bomb attack on his home in the junta stronghold of Kita, outside Bamako, his family and an official said. April 25's shock synchronised attacks by Tuareg rebels of the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) coalition and the jihadist Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) targeted several areas in the vast arid country. (Photo by FANNY NOARO-KABRÉ / AFP)
Mali’s defence minister died after an attack on his house, his family said Sunday, as the army fought a second day of battles with jihadist fighters and separatist rebels near the capital, Bamako, and other cities, putting the Sahel nation’s ruling junta under severe pressure.
Defence Minister Sadio Camara, his second wife and two of his grandchildren died after a car bomb attack on his home in the junta stronghold of Kita, outside Bamako, his family and an official said.
Saturday’s shock attacks, synchronised by Tuareg rebels of the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) coalition and the jihadist Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), targeted several areas in the vast arid country.
Fighting resumed Sunday in several areas, including Kita near Bamako, Kidal, Gao and Severe.
Tuareg rebels meanwhile announced an agreement allowing Russian forces backing Mali’s army to withdraw from the northern city of Kidal, which they claimed was “totally” under their control.
“An accord has been reached permitting the (Malian) army and its (Russian) Africa Corps allies to leave the camp 2, where they were holed up since yesterday,” a Tuareg official told AFP.
“We saw a military convoy leave, but don’t know the details of what’s happening … Fighters from armed movements have now taken over the streets,” a redident added.
