Gunmen have attacked Mali’s capital, Bamako, and several locations across the country, says Mali’s army in an apparently coordinated ⁠assault involving multiple groups.
Two loud explosions and sustained gunfire were heard shortly before 6am (06:00 GMT) near Mali’s main military base at Kati outside Bamako.

Ibrahim Yahaya Ibrahim, deputy director for the Sahel at the International Crisis Group, says Malian authorities appear to have been caught off-guard by the latest wave of attacks.

“Even though it is hard to say that it is totally a surprise, I think it is just another dramatic episode in a series of spectacular attacks that we have witnessed in recent years by JNIM attacking the government.”

He described the scale and coordination of the assault as highly unusual.

Calling the attack “unprecedented” in terms of magnitude, Ibrahim highlighted the simultaneous offensive on “at least six major urban centres”, including Bamako, Kati, Gao and Kidal.

While there has been no official claim of responsibility yet by JNIM, Ibrahim said the group’s apparent ability to launch simultaneous attacks across multiple locations pointed to growing capacity.

“Now the group’s ability to coordinate simultaneous attack in this different location is really a show of force, of course, and it shows a significant, organisational sophistication, but also expanding operational reach.”