Breitbart By John Hayward
The defense minister of Mali, Gen. Sadio Camara, was killed on Saturday during a major offensive by insurgents linked to al-Qaeda. The offensive included attacks in the national capital of Bamako and a half-dozen other areas, with an as yet unconfirmed number of casualties.
According to Malian state television, the 47-year-old Camara was killed when a car loaded with explosives was driven into his home in the heavily fortified town of Kati, about nine miles north of Bamako. His second wife and two grandchildren were reportedly killed along with him.
The leader of the Malian government, interim president Assimi Goita, also lives in Kati, which until Saturday was considered one of the most secure locations in the entire country. Goita was reportedly “alive and well in a secure location” after the weekend attacks.
Other assaults involving gunfire and explosions were reported in Bamako, the northern towns of Gao and Kidal, and the city of Sevare in central Mali. The fighting in Kidal continued for more than 24 hours and apparently ended with the insurgents taking control of the city, as government forces and mercenaries from Russia’s Africa Corps withdrew from Kidal on Monday.
Mali’s civilian government was overthrown by a coup in 2021, followed soon after by Burkina Faso in 2022 and Niger in 2023. The three juntas have formed an alliance to push back against the disapproval of the African Union (AU), United Nations (UN), and international community.
The Mali junta immediately had trouble with the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), a separatist movement active in northern Mali since 2012. The struggle with this insurgency is often known as the Tuareg Rebellion, after the ethnic group that forms the bulk of the rebel militias. “Azawad” is the Tuarag name for the independent state they wish to create in northern Mali.
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