The leader of Mali’s military government, Assimi Goïta, has promised to neutralise and apprehend the attackers of the Saturday coordinated attacks.

West Africa’s al Qaeda affiliate and a Tuareg-dominated separatist group hit Mali’s main army base and the ‌area near Bamako’s airport on Saturday.

They also pushed Russian troops supporting government forces out of the strategic town of Kidal in the north.

The attacks have triggered a scramble for territory across Mali’s vast desert north, raising the prospect of significant gains by armed groups that have shown an increasing willingness to strike neighbouring countries.

Analysts, however, said the attackers could eventually set their sights further afield.

The attackers on Saturday killed Mali’s defence minister, Sadio Camara, and since then, Mr Goita had not been seen in his office until Tuesday afternoon, when pictures of him meeting the Russian ambassador, Igor Gromyko, were published.

The two men discussed the current situation and the strong partnership between Bamako and Moscow.

Mr Gromyko “reaffirmed his country’s commitment to supporting Mali in the fight against international terrorism”, a social media post from Mr Goita’s office said.

Mr Goita also visited a hospital where people wounded in Saturday’s attacks were receiving treatment and expressed condolences to Mr Camara’s family, his office said.

He then delivered a brief address on the evening news in which he declared that “the situation is under control” and said operations would continue until they achieved “the complete neutralisation of the groups involved” in the attacks.

The scale of the offensive, which hit multiple sites across the West African country, demonstrated an unprecedented ability by groups with differing objectives to work together and strike at the heart of the military government.

In a video message distributed on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the al Qaeda affiliate, Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, boasted about Saturday’s violence and described it as revenge for drone strikes and other attacks perpetrated by Malian forces.

The spokesperson, Bina Diarra, also threatened to impose a siege on Bamako, a city of 4 million people.

“As of today, Bamako is closed off from all sides,” he said in the message.

JNIM imposed a fuel blockade of Bamako last year, but it had eased in the period leading up to Saturday’s attacks.

Russia said ‌on Tuesday that jihadi and separatist forces in Mali were regrouping after Moscow’s forces helped thwart what it described as a coup attempt on Saturday, preventing insurgents from seizing key facilities, including the presidential palace.

“The enemy has not abandoned its aggressive intentions and is currently regrouping,’’ the Russian Defence Ministry said in a statement.

Russian forces were conducting active reconnaissance operations to destroy insurgent field camps and stood ready to repel further attacks, it added.

Moscow’s response to the attacks is being closely watched across the continent and beyond at a time when its forces are tied down fighting in Ukraine, and it is trying to deepen its role as a security guarantor to friendly resource-rich governments in Africa.

Mali turned to Russia for support after expelling French and UN troops following coups in 2020 and 2021.

As Malian forces sought to mount a defence in the north, trusted sources told Russia that fighters from West Africa’s Islamic State affiliate entered the northeastern town of Menaka.

The group, known as Islamic State in the Sahel Province, did not take part in Saturday’s fighting.

However, its fighters were present in Menaka, near the border with Niger, according to two residents, two security analysts and an official from the Azawad Liberation Front.

One resident said the fighters had established checkpoints in some neighbourhoods while Malian soldiers had moved to a nearby camp.

Another resident reported seeing jihadists coming in small groups on motorcycles but said there was no gunfire, and people continued to move about the town.

None of the sources reported direct clashes.

ISSP and JNIM have fought each other for years.

Since their first skirmishes in 2019, the two groups have clashed hundreds of times, leaving more than 2,100 people dead, according to data from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data project. 

(Reuters/NAN)