STORY: :: November 11, 2025
:: November 26, 2021
Mali Defense Minister Sadio Camara was killed in an attack on his residence, the government said on Sunday, during coordinated assaults staged by insurgents.
Government spokesperson Issa Ousmane Coulibaly said a car laden with explosives driven by a suicide attacker drove into Camara's residence on Saturday in the town of Kati.
:: November 26, 2021
"During intense fighting, he was wounded and then transported to hospital, where he unfortunately succumbed to his injuries. Furthermore, the collapse of his residence caused additional casualties and the destruction of a nearby mosque, resulting in the deaths of some worshippers who were inside."
Attacks were reported in multiple locations across Mali on Saturday.
An al Qaeda affiliate and Tuareg rebels later claimed responsibility, in what analysts and diplomats described as one of the largest coordinated attacks in the country in recent years.
Mali's army said in a statement it had killed "several hundred" assailants and repelled the assault.
However, the fate of the strategic city of Kidal, a former stronghold for the Azawad Liberation Front, or FLA, was unclear on Sunday.
The FLA, said on X that a deal had been struck to let Russian mercenaries leave a besieged camp outside the city where Malian armed forces were still entrenched.
But Mali's army chief of staff said that the military had repositioned forces in Kidal and operations in the area were ongoing.
Russian state-run broadcaster Vesti reported on Sunday that Russia's Africa Corps was repelling a large-scale militant attack on Mali's government.
According to Vesti, Russian personnel were responding along with units of Mali's Presidential Guard and armed forces, preventing the presidential palace from being seized.
Vesti said some members of Russia's Africa Corps were wounded, without providing further details.
Saturday's attacks signal a potential escalation in an insurgency that began in 2012.
The current government, took power after coups in 2020 and 2021 with a pledge to restore security but has so far struggled to deliver.
