Mali's Defense Minister, Sadio Camara, who advocated maintaining ties with Russia, was killed on Saturday in an attack on his residence by a group linked to ''Al-Qaeda'', Reuters reported, citing French radio station RFI.
Camara was killed in an operation in Kata, 15 km north of Bamako, which was part of a wider offensive by a branch of Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), which cooperates with the Tuareg-dominated rebel group. Analysts and diplomats described it as one of the largest coordinated attacks in the country in recent years.
A relative of Kamara confirmed to the agency that he had died, and a Malian journalist, the son-in-law of the defense minister, published a message about his death on Facebook.
The United Nations has called for an international response to violence and terrorism in the Sahel region of West Africa following Saturday's attack.
''The Secretary-General is deeply concerned by reports of attacks in several areas of Mali. It strongly condemns these acts of violence, a UN spokesman wrote in a statement.
''If confirmed, Camara's death would be a serious blow to the Malian military leadership,'' said Djenabou Cisse, a fellow at the Foundation for Strategic Studies (FRS), which specializes in security issues in West Africa.
The current government, led by Assimi Goita, came to power after coups in 2020 and 2021 and has sought closer ties with Russia while rejecting military cooperation with the West.
''Since he was a key figure in the junta and the main architect of the rapprochement between Mali and Russia, his removal would highlight JNIM's ability to strike at the very heart of state power,'' notes Cisse.
In addition to Kata, Saturday's strike also targeted the outskirts of Bamako airport and towns further north, including Mopti, Sévaré and Gao.
The fate of the strategic city of Kidal, a former stronghold of the Tuareg-dominated Front for the Liberation of Azawad (FLA), which has collaborated with JNIM, also remains unclear.
The FLA said in an official statement that Kidal had fallen, and a spokesman for the group wrote in X that an agreement had been reached to withdraw Russian mercenaries from a besieged camp outside the city where Malian forces are still holding out.
A statement by the Malian armed forces on Sunday, however, said operations to push back the rebels were continuing, including in Kidal.
On Sunday, Russian state television ''Vesti'' reported that the Russian African Corps had repelled a large-scale Islamist attack on the Malian government. According to ''Vesti'', the Russian military worked together with units of the Presidential Guard and the Malian armed forces to prevent the capture of the presidential palace. Some members of the Russian African Corps were injured in the attack.