Mali‘s Tuareg rebel alliance has declared its intention to expel Russia’s Africa Corps from the country permanently, framing the demand not as hostility toward Moscow but as a consequence of Russia’s decision to back a military government the rebels accuse of massacres and serious crimes against civilian populations.
Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, spokesperson for the Azawad Liberation Front, made the statement to AFP during a visit to Paris where his movement was meeting French security and defence officials — a striking diplomatic choice given that France’s own troops were expelled from Mali by the military government in 2022. “We have no particular problem with Russia, nor with any other country,” Ramadane said. “Our problem is with the regime that governs Bamako.” The Russians, he argued, had disqualified themselves by providing military support to people “who committed serious crimes and massacres.”
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The rebels’ offensive launched Saturday has already produced dramatic results on the ground. Mali’s defence minister, Sadio Camara, was killed in an assault on his home in Kati, the garrison town near Bamako that houses senior government officials. The government described his death as the result of a car bomb driven by a suicide bomber. His funeral is scheduled for Thursday morning.
In the northern city of Kidal, Russian fighters were seen withdrawing in trucks after the rebel advance, reportedly following negotiations mediated by neighbouring Algeria. Ramadane confirmed the sequence: “The Russians found themselves in danger. There was no way out.” He said they had requested a secure corridor and were escorted to Anefis, southwest of Kidal. Russia’s Defence Ministry characterised the withdrawal differently, saying it was a decision by the Malian government and that units in Kidal had “fought for more than 24 hours and repelled four massive attacks” before leaving.
The coordinated offensive involved the FLA alongside the al-Qaeda-linked JNIM and fighters from Fulani and Arab rebel groups, targeting multiple cities simultaneously including Kidal, Sevare and areas of central Mali. The breadth of the operation represented the most significant challenge to the military government of President Assimi Goita since he seized power in a 2020 coup and subsequently invited Russian forces to replace the French troops his government had expelled.
Goita responded Tuesday, saying military operations would continue until the armed groups were “neutralised.” By Wednesday, Malian forces had reportedly retaken Menaka near the Niger border after fighters from the ISIL-affiliated Sahel Province retreated following clashes with the army. Military presence was reported in the central Mopti region and in Gao, Mali’s largest northern city, though tensions remained elevated in Sevare.
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Ramadane was unambiguous about where the offensive is heading. The rebels intend to take control of Gao, Timbuktu and Menaka following the capture of Kidal, he said, and the FLA was prepared to govern major northern cities under what he described as a “moderate form of Sharia law” similar to Mauritania’s, administered by qadis — Islamic judges operating under Islamic law.
France urged its nationals in Mali to leave “as soon as possible” on Wednesday, citing the volatile security situation. The advisory came from the country whose military presence in the Sahel was systematically dismantled by the wave of anti-French sentiment that brought military governments to power in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger — governments that turned to Russia as an alternative security partner and are now discovering what that partnership can and cannot deliver when armed groups push into their cities.