A jihadist-separatist alliance has opened a new front in northern Mali, ambushing a Malian-Russian convoy near Anéfis and pushing to seize the strategic town, while Bamako continues to insist its forces retain control even as fighting has spread to Gao, Sévaré, Konna, and other key military hubs.

More than five days after a coordinated offensive launched on July 4 against multiple towns across Mali, the fighting remains active and unresolved. Most of the localities initially hit have returned to a fragile calm, but Anéfis and the surrounding roads remain contested. A second Malian convoy, reportedly comprising around 60 vehicles, left Gao overnight between July 7 and 8 in a fresh attempt to reach the besieged military camp, according to regional reporting. As of Wednesday, July 8, that convoy had reportedly covered roughly 100 kilometers toward its objective, with its progress being closely tracked by both sides.

The offensive is being carried out by a coalition that brings together jihadists from the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (known by its French acronym JNIM) and Touareg fighters from the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA). The two groups ambushed an earlier convoy headed for Anéfis, made up of soldiers from the Malian Armed Forces (FAMA) and Russian fighters from Africa Corps. That ambush took place on the afternoon of July 5 near Tabrichat, roughly 55 kilometers southwest of Anéfis, as the convoy attempted to reach the besieged camp with reinforcements. FAMA and Africa Corps forces have historically operated alongside the Tuareg Imghad Self-Defense Group and Allies (GATIA), a pro-Bamako militia aligned with General El Hadj Gamou, the current governor of Kidal. It has not been independently confirmed that GATIA fighters were part of this specific convoy.

The fighting near Tabrichat, described as unusually intense, lasted for several hours. Shortly after 4 p.m. GMT on July 5, a Russian Mi-24 helicopter was shot down. Footage of the crash spread quickly on social media, shared in particular by Mohamed El Maouloud Ramadane, spokesperson for the FLA, along with several accounts close to the movement. JNIM fighters do not appear in those videos, but according to available reporting, jihadist units did participate in the operation.

The JNIM-FLA coalition, which used “kamikaze” drones, vehicle-borne explosives, and improvised explosive devices, inflicted significant material losses on the convoy. Several armored vehicles and a fuel truck were reportedly destroyed. No official human casualty figures have been released. According to multiple sources, the column of FAMA troops and Russian fighters turned back and withdrew to Gao that evening.

Strategic battle for Anéfis

Located about 100 kilometers from Kidal, Anéfis is a key strategic lock for both sides in the conflict. After the April 25 offensive, the FLA, backed by JNIM, seized control of Kidal, forcing Malian forces and their Russian allies to fall back to Anéfis. The alliance between separatists and jihadists pursues a dual objective: taking Anéfis and Aguelhok to complete their reconquest of the Kidal region, and securing a forward base from which to project power into other parts of northern Mali, particularly toward Gao. For Mali’s authorities, the priority is avoiding further territorial losses and holding this position as a staging ground for any future campaign to retake Kidal.

The situation remains highly unstable six days in. The July 4 offensive quickly threw FAMA forward positions into disarray, and Malian soldiers were captured by the FLA during the fighting. The Anéfis military camp, however, has remained in the hands of Malian forces and Africa Corps fighters, who continue to hold out there under siege as of this week. Malian aircraft, including Sukhoi jets and drones, have conducted strikes around the camp in support of the defenders.

Africa Corps denies talks

Rumors circulated for several days claiming Russian forces were seeking to negotiate a withdrawal corridor, as reportedly happened in several localities after the April 25 offensive. Africa Corps formally denied this, addressing JNIM’s leader directly in a social media post published the day after the July 4 attacks:

“Iyad [Ag Ghaly], we see you, we are coming toward you […] Soon, you and all those who came to us will die.”

Iyad Ag Ghaly is a prominent Touareg jihadist leader and the head of JNIM, which is aligned with al-Qaeda in the Sahel; Mali’s government placed a 2 billion CFA franc bounty on him last month. The Africa Corps message was accompanied by images showing corpses presented as jihadist fighters killed in the offensive. Africa Corps also claimed to have killed Abdourahmane Al-Targui, known as Abdourahmane Zaza, a JNIM commander said to have led jihadist units during the April 25 assault on Kidal; this claim has not been independently verified. Africa Corps separately asserted that Mbarick Ag Akli, the FLA’s military operations chief, was killed, but the FLA has publicly denied his death.

Coordinated attacks across multiple towns

On July 4, after several hours of fighting, Mali’s army general staff issued a statement calling the situation “totally under control,” claiming that 20 “terrorists” had been “neutralized” in Sévaré and six more in Gao. The first official toll reported one dead and four wounded among Malian soldiers. In a second communiqué that evening, the army said it had repelled an attempted attack on Konna and Somadougou, adding that losses were “particularly heavy on the enemy side.”

No further official details have been provided since. Images reviewed by Jeune Afrique showed roughly 20 bodies of fighters presented as assailants killed in Konna.

Africa Corps named explicitly

The army’s second July 4 statement marked a notable shift in official communication. For the first time since Russian forces deployed to Mali five years ago, the general staff explicitly mentioned Africa Corps, which replaced the Wagner Group in June 2025. Until now, Bamako had maintained ambiguity, referring only to “foreign partners.”

A Malian security source said that the general staff had advance intelligence on the timing of the July 4 operation. The same source said security measures had been reinforced in Gao and Sévaré, two towns regularly targeted because they host Malian and Russian aircraft and serve as central logistics hubs for reinforcements moving north. As of July 9, the second relief convoy remains en route toward Anéfis, with the outcome of that mission likely to shape the next phase of the battle.