Mali’s military rulers faced a security crisis on Sunday after coordinated attacks across the country by jihadist fighters and separatists this weekend killed the defense minister and reportedly left a key northern city in rebel hands.
There was no word from junta leader General Assimi Goita, who has not been seen since the attacks began at dawn on Saturday.
The attacks, coordinated by the Tuareg rebels of the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) and the Jihadist Group in Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), targeted several areas in the arid country.
Analysts said the coordinated attacks were the biggest challenge to the country’s rulers since the March 2012 attacks that were thwarted by the intervention of French forces, who have since left.
Government forces were still fighting in some parts of the country but the loss of Defense Minister Sadio Camara on Saturday represented a major blow to the administration.
Camara, his second wife and two grandchildren died after a car bomb attack on his home in the military stronghold of Kati, outside Bamako, his family and an official said.
