Armed groups in Mali attacked the capital and other cities in a joint effort, the military said

Gunmen attacked several areas in Mali’s capital and other cities early Saturday in a series of planned attacks, residents and authorities said.

Mali’s military said in a statement that “armed terrorist groups have targeted certain areas and camps” in Bamako and that the military is “busy to eliminate the attackers.” It said in another statement that later the situation was under control.

Money is under attack revolutionaries fought al Qaeda affiliates and The Islamic State group, and a separatist rebellion in the north.

An Associated Press reporter in Bamako heard continuous heavy artillery and automatic gunfire from Modibo Keïta International Airport, 9 miles from the city center, and saw a helicopter passing nearby. The airport is close to the air base used by the Malian air force. A resident living near the airport also reported gunfire and three helicopters hovering overhead.

Residents report gunshots and explosions

Residents of some towns in Mali reported gunshots and explosions on Saturday morning, suggesting the possibility of a planned attack by armed groups.

A resident of Kati, a town near Bamako which is the base of the military base in Mali, also said he was woken up early by gunfire and explosions. Gen. Assimi Goita, leader of Mali military forcelives in Kati.

Videos on social media showed dozens of soldiers on trucks and motorcycles driving through the city’s deserted streets, while residents watched in horror. Other videos in the northern towns of Kidal and Gao show gunfire in the streets, with bodies lying on the ground.

Gunmen entered Kidal, taking control of neighborhoods and leading to a shootout with the military, the city’s former mayor told the AP by phone. He spoke and asked not to be named because he feared for his safety.

Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, a spokesman for the Tuareg-led Azawad, said on Facebook that their forces had taken control of Kidal and other areas in Gao, another town in the northeast. The AP could not independently substantiate his claim.

These separatists have been fighting for years to create the state of Azawad in northern Mali. They once pushed security forces out of the region, before a collapsed 2015 peace deal paved the way for other former rebels to be integrated into the Malian army.

A resident of Gao said the gunfire and explosions started in the early hours of Saturday and could still be heard in the morning.

“The fireworks made the doors and windows of my house shake. I’m scared,” said a resident who told AP by phone. He spoke and asked not to be named out of concern for his safety. The resident said the gunfire was coming from the military base and the nearby airport.

The biggest organized attack in years

The US Embassy in Bamako issued a security alert, saying, “There were reports of explosions and gunfire near Kati and Modibo Keita Airport in Bamako,” and, “US citizens should take shelter and avoid traveling to these areas until further information is available.”

Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel program at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, said the attack appeared to be the largest coordinated attack in Mali in recent years.

“Especially regarding the fact that JNIM (an al Qaeda-affiliated group) was apparently coordinating today’s attack with Tuareg rebels: Jihadist and Tuareg rebels met in 2012 when they raided northern Mali, which created a security crisis in the region,” Laessing said.

Mali, along with Niger and Burkina Faso, has long been at war with armed groups affiliated with al Qaeda and the Islamic State group, a war that has intensified over the past decade.

Following the military coup, officials from all three countries turned from the West to Russia for help in the fight against Islamic militants.

But the security situation in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso has worsened in recent times, analysts say, with a record number of attacks by militants. Government forces have also been accused of killing civilians suspected of collaborating with the forces.

In 2024, a group linked to al Qaeda said it attacked Bamako airport and a military training camp in the capital, killing scores of people.