Mali's army confirmed on Saturday it was involved in clashes with armed fighters who had attacked army barracks in the capital Bamako and other areas in the country.
"Terrorist groups, not yet identified, targeted certain points and barracks in the capital and the interior," said a statement.
Gunfire rocked several districts of Bamako, including Kati, the home of military ruler General Assimi Goita, witnesses told the French news agency AFP. Fighting was also heard in the northern cities of Gao and Kidal and Sevare in the centre.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks. But jihadists had already tried last year to cripple the capital by cutting off its fuel supply.
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Since 2012, jihadist groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group have fought with security services. Community-based criminal groups and separatists have also added to the tension.
US looks to revitalise relations with Mali with envoy visit to Bamako
The military government in Mali, like its counterparts in neighbouring Niger and Burkina Faso, has severed ties with former colonial ruler France and several western countries, to move closer politically and militarily to Russia.
Jihadist turmoil
The administration of the American president, Donald Trump, has sought to establish contacts with Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso while Togo has attempted to act as an intermediary between western nations and the three countries, which have formed their own Alliance of Sahel States.
Thousands of people have died in attacks in Mali since the jihadist turmoil erupted and tens of thousands of Malians have sought refuge in neighbouring countries, including Mauritania, in recent years.
Russia's Wagner Group, which had been fighting with Malian forces against jihadists since 2021, announced the end of its mission in June 2025, and has become the Africa Corps, an organisation under the direct control of the Russian defence ministry.
Malian authorities have cracked down on critics and dissolved political parties.
In November, the HAC, Mali's media regulator, suspended French broadcasters LCI and TF1 over allegedly using "unverified statements and falsehoods" regarding jihadists.
The regulator condemned the report as "a blatant violation of the journalist's code of ethics in Mali, which requires adherence to the truth".
Mali's military rulers, who came to power in coups in 2020 and 2021, had pledged to hand over power to civilians by March 2024 but in July 2025, they granted Goita a five-year presidential term, renewable "as many times as necessary" and without an election.
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Since September, jihadists from the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims, an Al-Qaeda affiliate known by its Arab acronym JNIM, have been attacking fuel tanker convoys, bringing Bamako to a standstill at the height of the crisis in October.
(With newswires)
