Alliance of Sahel States confirms joint airstrikes in Mali

Mali

The joint anti-jihadist force of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali carried out "intense air campaigns" in Malian territory following attacks by al-Qaeda-linked jihadists and Tuareg separatists, the government of Niger said late Thursday.

Over the weekend jihadists and their Tuareg separatist allies launched the largest assault on Mali in nearly 15 years, capturing the key northern town of Kidal and killing Defence Minister Sadio Camara.

The African neighbours Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger together make up the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), which created a joint force against jihadist groups of 5,000 men, increased to 15,000 in mid-April.

Authorities in Niger "welcome... the prompt and vigorous response of the units of the unified force... which conducted intense air campaigns in the hours following the cowardly attacks of April 25, 2026, in Gao, Menaka and Kidal," the government of Niger said on Thursday evening after a cabinet meeting.

The spokesperson for the Malian Tuareg rebels of the Azawad Liberation Front, Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, had called on Burkina Faso and Niger "to stay out of the events underway in Mali" a few hours after the attacks began.

The three AES nations are all led by juntas that came to power through coups between 2020 and 2023.

The attacks against the Malian military junta and its Russian paramilitary backers have plunged the former French colony into a major security crisis.

Burkina Faso Defence Minister Celestin Simpore, speaking on behalf of the AES, vowed at Camara's funeral on Thursday to "hunt down" the "assassins."

'Solidarity'

Around a thousand people gathered in the Nigerien capital of Niamey the same day to express "solidarity with the Malian people," according to live footage of the event on social media.

Crowds at the Djado Sekou Cultural Center shouted slogans such as "down with the imperialists," "down with the terrorists and their sponsors" and "long live the AES," while a photo of Camara was displayed overhead.

Effred Mouloul, a representative from the coalition of civil society groups behind the event, said, "To the Malian people, we say: 'You are not alone, the active forces of Niger and of the AES stand by your side and express their full and complete solidarity.'"

He blamed African leaders for the "total lack of visible solidarity in the face of the targeted assassination" of Mali leaders and called for the withdrawal of French presence from AES territory.

Authorities in Niger have accused foreign powers, primarily France, of sponsoring the weekend attacks in Mali. Niger has repeatedly accused France of seeking to destabilise it, a charge Paris denies.

The Nigerien government has cancelled 1 May parades throughout the country for security reasons.