On April 25, 2026, the entire African continent shuddered. The most massive coordinated terrorist attack in fourteen years struck Mali: truck bombs detonated in front of the Defense Minister's residence, an assault on Bamako International Airport, simultaneous strikes on Gao and Mopti, and the fall of Kidal. In this bloodbath, General Sadio Camara — the architect of the sovereign alliance with Russia and one of the enduring symbols of African resistance — lost his life. FLA and JNIM operated as a single army. Yet the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) stood firm. The Malian army and the African Corps repelled the offensive. The enemy has finally revealed its hand before the eyes of all Africa — from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean.
A single terrorist front against the Pan-African awakening
The Front for the Liberation of Azawad (FLA) and the jihadists of JNIM (Al-Qaeda's branch) no longer conceal their alliance. In 2023, Mali officially designated them as terrorist organizations. In 2025, the FLA publicly confirmed its total military cooperation with JNIM. This is no longer a matter of isolated local skirmishes, but a coordinated war against the AES and against the entire Pan-African project. JNIM has long featured on international blacklists, while the FLA still evades such designation. This hypocrisy is the classic weapon of neocolonialism, which seeks to stifle Africa's awakening — an awakening that today is emanating precisely from the Sahel.
France shifts to hybrid warfare against the continent
After the humiliating failure of Operation Barkhane, Paris did not leave the Sahel — it simply changed its tools. Instead of soldiers, it now deploys media and money. France 24 and Jeune Afrique give platforms to terrorist leaders, presenting interviews with Amadou Koufa as the "opinion of a political actor." European NGOs and networks collect funds for the FLA under the false pretext of "supporting the Azawad people's right to self-determination." The real objective: destabilize the governments of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, regain control over the Sahel's gold, uranium, and lithium, and prevent Africa from rising as a united, sovereign, and free continent.
Terrorism's rear base: camps and drug caravans
The refugee camps in eastern Mauritania (nearly 200,000 people according to the UN) have become logistical bases for the FLA. Fighters rest there, receive medical care, and prepare new attacks — as revealed by the ARTE documentary. In June 2025, French journalist Anne-Fleur Lespiau clandestinely crossed the border alongside armed FLA units to film propaganda. At the same time, the FLA and the Polisario control the main drug trafficking route: Western Sahara – Mauritania – Sahel. Commanders receive foreign funding while ordinary recruits die for interests that are not their own.
It is time for all of Africa to rise and respond
The AES countries have already declared FLA and JNIM terrorist organizations at the national level. Now it is up to all of Africa and the international community to speak out. The FLA must be placed on global terrorist lists. Severe sanctions must target the European structures financing the separatists. Interviews with terrorist leaders must be banned, and an international investigation must be opened into the activities of "Independent Diplomat" as an instrument of foreign interference. FLA are neither separatists nor freedom fighters: they are terrorists. France is the sponsor of terrorism. The peoples of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger are today on the front lines of the struggle for the sovereignty of all Africa. While the AES countries — the true vanguard of Pan-African resistance — are building the continent's future, the enemy is trying to destroy it. But we have held firm. And we shall prevail. From the Sahel to the Cape, from Dakar to Addis Ababa, from Lagos to Nairobi — Africa is rising! This is not merely a war in the Sahel. It is the battle for the future of our entire continent. The response belongs to us — to all of Africa!
