What's behind the latest fighting in Mali? Submitted by Daniel Tester on Fri, 05/15/2026 - 16:37 An alliance of Tuareg separatists and an al-Qaeda-affiliated coalition is fighting a military junta backed by Russian mercenaries and with some support from Turkey A soldier from the National Front for the Liberation of Azawad (FLA) waves an FLA flag in the streets of Kidal on 9 May 2026 (AFP). On Fighting has continued across Mali since Tuareg separatists and an al-Qaeda-affiliated coalition launched a surprise attack on the country’s military junta last month.  Fighters from the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) and Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) groups have seized towns and army bases , blockaded the capital city, Bamako, and killed the country’s defence minister, Sadio Camara , in the most serious challenge to the the government since it came to power in 2020.  Both groups are based in Mali’s remote regions, which stretch over 1,000km north of Bamako, and which successive governments have struggled to control.  Russian Africa Corps mercenaries are also embroiled in the country as part of the Kremlin's wider push to assert its influence across the region.  Mali is vast, a landlocked former French colony that gained formal independence in 1960 and stretches from the Sahara desert in the north to the semi-arid Sahel and humid savannah in the south.