Bamako under Siege: How Coordinated Attacks Exposed the Mali Government’s Fragility—and Tested the AES The coordinated attacks that shook Mali on 25–27 April 2026 are not an anomaly. They are the culmination of a long, deteriorating security trajectory—one that has steadily eroded state authority, exposed strategic miscalculations, and now threatens to overwhelm national and regional security architectures. At the centre of this crisis lies a troubling reality: Mali is no longer facing a fragmented insurgency.