Mali defence minister killed, fresh fighting between army and rebels

BAMAKO, April 26 (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 Kati, 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 Kati, 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 resident added.
Kidal, a Tuareg stronghold, was retaken in November 2023 by the Malian army backed by Russia's Wagner paramilitary group, ending more than a decade of control by rebels.
The FLA also claims to have taken positions in the northern Gao region.
"The aim of the attackers was not to seize and control cities, but to carry out coordinated actions in order to at least capture Kidal, which is a rather powerful symbol," a security source told AFP on Sunday.
Mali has been ravaged for more than a decade by conflict and jihadist violence but Saturday's attacks were the worst since 2020, when the junta seized power.
They took place on the fringes of the Malian capital Bamako and in several towns and cities across the sprawling Sahel nation.
- Residents on edge -
The fighting left 16 civilians and soldiers wounded and caused "limited material damage," the government said in a statement on Saturday evening.
It added that "the situation is totally under control in all the localities" that were attacked.
In the capital, access to military facilities has been blocked by barriers and tyres on the roads, an AFP journalist said.
In the outlying district of Senou, where the airport is located and which witnessed heavy fighting on Saturday, the atmosphere was jittery.