Malian setbacks for Russia’s africa corps amid surging jihadist offensives

A significant and symbolic defeat unfolded on Sunday, April 26, in Kidal, northeastern Mali. Russian mercenaries from Africa Corps, who succeeded the Wagner Group in 2025 and are allied with the Bamako junta, were forced to retreat. Humiliating images shared on social media depicted Africa Corps personnel abandoning the area in trucks, disarmed and under pressure from the GSIM jihadist group (also known as JNIM) and their Touareg rebel allies, the Front de libération de l’Azawad (FLA). Their departure was so swift that dozens of armored vehicles and helicopters were left behind, falling into the hands of the jihadists and Touareg rebels. Additionally, several Malian soldiers were taken captive following brief engagements.

Since Saturday, the Sahelian nation has been engulfed by a wave of coordinated attacks launched by Al-Qaeda-affiliated GSIM jihadists, in collaboration with the FLA Touareg separatist rebellion. These assaults targeted strategic junta positions across the country, including areas on the outskirts of the capital, Bamako.

a reversal of 2023 gains

On Monday, the Africa Corps paramilitary group, under the control of the Russian Ministry of Defense, confirmed the withdrawal of its forces from Kidal, a city in northern Mali. This represents a significant reversal for the FLA rebels, who had witnessed Wagner Group mercenaries seize the city and proudly raise their black flag with a white skull just eighteen months prior, in November 2023. For the junta’s Russian allies, this constitutes a bitter failure. Djenabou Cissé, an associate researcher at the Fondation pour la recherche stratégique, noted that “the only true strategic success the Russians had achieved since their arrival in Mali in 2021 was precisely the capture of Kidal, a historic Touareg stronghold.” Its fall, she added, “sounds like a repudiation.”

The coordinated GSIM attacks also targeted the capital Bamako, the city of Kati, home to the country’s primary military base, and Gao, a former UN base. In total, at least six cities across Mali were hit.

Since 2021, Mali has been governed by a military junta that seized power through a coup in the same year. Concurrently, the nation has endured years of siege by the Al-Qaeda-affiliated jihadist group, which contributed to the region becoming the global epicenter of terrorism and its victims by 2025, according to a report by the Institute for Economics and Peace. Since summer 2025, jihadists have inflicted numerous defeats on Malian armed forces and their Russian allies, notably establishing blockades around the capital in an attempt to cripple its economy.

“long ineffective” counter-terrorism efforts

To counter the jihadist advance, Malian military leaders enlisted Russian mercenaries, initially with Wagner in 2021, and then with Africa Corps from 2025. However, the violence has only intensified. Disturbingly, some of the most severe attacks against civilians have been attributed to Russian mercenaries and elements of the Malian army, as reported by The Washington Post. Since 2021, multiple reports from the United Nations and the International Federation for Human Rights have documented a surge in conflict-related sexual violence, perpetrated by Malian defense and security forces and their Russian auxiliaries, a fact also highlighted by Le Monde last August.

According to Wassim Nasr, a journalist specializing in jihadist movements, “it has long been clear that Russian mercenaries were ineffective as counter-terrorism partners, whether within the Wagner Group or now within Africa Corps. Saturday’s attacks merely confirmed these difficulties.”

Over the recent weekend, videos from across Mali underscored the scale of the assaults. In Kidal, jihadists stormed the governor’s office. Meanwhile, in Bamako, residents observed GSIM fighters entering the city with no discernible resistance. On the outskirts of the capital, at Kati, the junta’s headquarters, a bomb attack destroyed the home of Defense Minister Sadio Camara, who was reportedly killed in the offensive.

allegations of “betrayal in Kidal”

On Monday, Prime Minister Abdoulaye Maïga addressed the press, paying tribute to Defense Minister Sadio Camara while endeavoring to reassure the populace. In a brief televised address, his first appearance since the jihadist offensive began on Saturday, President and junta leader Assimi Goïta declared on Tuesday evening that the situation was “under control,” indicating that operations would continue until “the complete neutralization of the groups involved” in the attacks.

Despite limitations on freedom of expression in Mali, questions are already being raised about the effectiveness of the Malian Armed Forces (Famas) and Africa Corps soldiers. An anonymous Malian officer informed RFI that “the Russians betrayed us in Kidal.” According to him, the regional governor had warned the Russian mercenaries “three days before the attack, and they did nothing. In reality, they had already negotiated their departure.” If Russian forces have indeed departed Kidal, they may also be on the verge of withdrawing from other northern locations, a move that could further destabilize the regular Malian army.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov, during his daily briefing on Tuesday, April 28, declined to comment on Africa Corps’ capacity to manage the situation. However, he asserted that their forces had thwarted an attempted coup in Mali by FLA and GSIM fighters, as reported by Reuters.