The west African nation is facing a critical security situation following large-scale attacks last weekend on various junta positions by the Tuareg-dominated FLA and Al-Qaeda-linked JNIM groups.
During those assaults, the rebels killed Mali's defence minister and took the crucial northern town of Kidal.
On Friday, forces from Mali's key Tessalit "super-camp" near the Algerian border surrendered the military installation and scattered southward, an official from the FLA (the Azawad Liberation Front) told AFP.
The retreat comes one day after JNIM (the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims) began a road blockade on the capital, Bamako. Only people already in the city were allowed to leave.
No clashes took place at Tessalit, a security source in Gao told AFP, adding that regular troops had already evacuated when the assailants entered.
A local elected official additionally confirmed to AFP that the Russians had abandoned their position there.
Tessalit serves as a strategic base due to its geographical location and features a well-maintained airstrip capable of accommodating helicopters and other large military aircraft.
It had hosted a significant number of Malian troops and their Russian allies, in addition to a substantial quantity of military equipment.
"Tessalit is the oldest base built by the colonial power (France)", a military officer told AFP, adding that its position in the far north offered "a panoramic view of the entire Sahara".
Mali forces were also forced to abandon a lesser military base, Aguelhok, located some 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of Tessalit, according to a local elected official and a separate FLA official Friday.
Earlier this week a spokesman for the Tuareg rebels not only vowed that they will conquer the country's north but predicted that the junta, which seized power in coups in 2020 and 2021, will "fall".
- Fierce fighting -
The coordinated attacks last weekend marked the largest assault in Mali in nearly 15 years.
The fierce fighting at various locations, including around Bamako, resulted in the death of at least 23 people and killed defence minister Sadio Camara, a key junta figure.
A government tribute was held Thursday for the 47-year-old minister, who died as a result of a car bomb at his residence in Kati, a garrison town near Bamako.
UNICEF said in a statement Friday that civilians and children had been killed and injured during the attacks, and that wounded children are being treated in local health facilities, without specifying the number.
A health centre in Gao was reportedly attacked, while a school in the Mopti region had been occupied by "weapon bearers", with an explosive device located nearby, it added.
An investigation by the Bamako Military Prosecutor's Office alleged that several active duty and former military personnel had been complicit in the "planning, coordination and execution" of the attacks.
It also alleged that exiled opposition politician Oumar Mariko had been involved, according to a document from the public prosecutor's office Friday.
In recent years, Mali, like neighbouring junta-led Burkina Faso and Niger, has cut ties with colonial power France and moved closer to Moscow.
The three west African neighbours banded together to form the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), which created a joint force it says now numbers some 15,000 men.
The government of Niger said late on Thursday that the three countries had "conducted intense air campaigns" following the attacks in Mali last Saturday.
While that assault marked a turning point in JNIM's fight against the Malian junta, it was far from the jihadists' only campaign in recent times.
Late last year, JNIM attempted to cripple the Malian economy by imposing blockades on the supply of petrol and diesel being trucked in from abroad, particularly from Ivory Coast and Senegal.
Mali attacks kill defence minister, deepening security crisis
Bamako (AFP) April 27, 2026 -
Mali's military rulers faced a security crisis Monday after coordinated attacks by jihadists and separatist rebels killed the defence minister but the junta chief has not been seen since the assault began.
Several strategic towns and areas around the capital Bamako were targeted in the offensive by Tuareg rebels of the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) coalition and the jihadist Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), which was launched at dawn on Saturday.
Mali has been mired in more than a decade of violence but analysts said the attacks were the most serious challenge to its rulers since a March 2012 offensive that was repelled by the intervention of French forces, who have since left.
After two days of intense fighting between Malian soldiers and the armed groups, Bamako and Kati, a garrison town and junta stronghold about 15 kilometres (nine miles) north of the capital, were quiet on Monday.
No gunfire was heard in Kati, where clashes had continued a day earlier.
The wreckage of burnt-out cars could be seen as well as the impact of bullets, AFP journalists saw.
The area around the airport in the outlying district of Senou was also calm on Monday, where only a few military aircraft were making runs at regular intervals.
"We conducted sweep operations throughout the night, which allowed us to reduce the checkpoints. Now we are counting on the public to report any suspicious individuals in the neighbourhoods," an officer in Senou told AFP.
General Assimi Goita, who heads the junta which seized power in 2020, has not been seen or made a public statement since the attacks.
A Malian security source has told AFP that he was in a safe place.
Defence Minister Sadio Camara, 47, a key junta member, was killed on Saturday in a car bomb attack on his home in Kati, the government said in a late Sunday statement.
His second wife and two of his grandchildren also died, his family and an official said.
Camara fought his attackers, "some of whom he succeeded in neutralising", but the general died of his wounds in hospital, the government statement added.
Fighting also continued on Sunday in the strategic northern towns of Kidal and Gao, as well as Severe in central Mali.
- Rebels claim Kidal -
The alliance between the Tuareg rebels, who want independence for a region in the north, and the Al-Qaeda-linked jihadists further deepens Mali's security crisis.
Tuareg rebels told AFP they had reached an agreement allowing Russian Africa Corps forces backing Mali's army to withdraw from Kidal, which they claimed was "totally" under their control.
"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," said one resident.
Mali's army had recaptured Kidal, a Tuareg stronghold, in November 2023 with the help of Russia's Wagner paramilitary group, ending more than a decade of control by rebels.
The FLA, made up of mainly Tuareg groups who want independence for Azawad, also said it had taken positions in the northern Gao region.
The situation in the central town of Sevare, where gunfire could still be heard on Sunday, remained "confused", a local official said.
- Wave of condemnation -
After seizing power, Goita emphasised Mali's commitment to the anti-jihadist fight and initially pledged a return to civilian rule.
Mali, which has gold and other valuable minerals, has since severed ties with former colonial ruler France and several Western countries, moving closer to Moscow.
Russia's Africa Corps, an organisation under direct control of the Russian defence ministry, has taken over from the mercenary Wagner group in helping Malian forces fight jihadists.
The opposition Coalition of Forces for the Republic (CFR) said in a statement that Mali was "in danger".
The junta had "promised Malians security, stability and the return of the State" it said.
After the weekend offensive, nobody could seriously claim that Mali was either pacified or secure, it added.
The Alliance of Sahel States (AES), which comprises Mali and its junta-led neighbours Burkina Faso and Niger, denounced the attacks as "a monstrous plot backed by the enemies of the liberation of the Sahel".
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres condemned "acts of violence" in Mali and called for "coordinated international support to address the evolving threat of violent extremism and terrorism in the Sahel and to meet urgent humanitarian needs", spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
The European Union has also condemned the attacks.
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