Mali in Crisis: Key Figures in Government, Military, and Rebel Groups

Since late last week, security in Mali has deteriorated sharply as a militant group linked to al-Qaeda, in coordination with separatist forces, attacked multiple military bases—including areas where senior officials reside—and seized control of the northern city of Kidal.

Mali's government confirmed that Defense Minister Sadio Camara and his family were killed in Kati, a military garrison near the capital Bamako. Armed groups have vowed to besiege the capital.

Mali has been mired in a security crisis since 2012. The al-Qaeda-affiliated Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) controls large swaths of rural territory, particularly in the north and center, and maintains cells around the capital. Meanwhile, the Islamic State (ISIS) in the Sahel Province (ISSP) holds areas northeast of Menaka.

At the same time, the Tuareg separatist group of the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) is clashing with the Malian army and Russian mercenaries, who have been in Mali since 2021. The group, together with JNIM, now controls Kidal and aims to capture Gao, Menaka, and Timbuktu to establish a self-proclaimed state of Azawad.

Key Figures in the Malian Military

Assimi Goita: Colonel Goita, 42, is the head of state. He took part in the 2020 coup, promising to end the crisis. In May 2021, he staged another coup, ousting civilian cabinet members and appointing himself president. Under Goita, Mali severed ties with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), expelled French troops and 15,000 UN peacekeepers, and brought in Russian mercenaries. He also reignited conflict with Tuareg separatists.

Sadio Camara: Killed last weekend in Kati, General Camara, 47, was the defense minister. He was deeply involved in the 2020 coup, was later sidelined, but was reappointed by Goita after the 2021 coup. Camara was the architect of Mali-Russia ties, facilitating the arrival of Wagner mercenaries. Mali observed two days of mourning after his assassination.

Abdoulaye Maiga: Lieutenant Colonel Maiga, 44, has been prime minister since 2022. He was not part of the coups but is a close ally of Goita, believed to have pushed for the severing of ties with France. Maiga previously worked for the United Nations and ECOWAS.

Key Figures in the Africa Corps / Wagner

About 2,000 Russian mercenaries are fighting alongside the Malian army, originally under the Wagner Group. After Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin died in 2023, Russia folded the group into the Defense Ministry under the name Africa Corps, which also operates in the Central African Republic, Libya, and Sudan.

Major General Andrey Averyanov: Believed to be the Africa Corps commander for the continent, he formerly led a Russian intelligence unit linked to assassinations abroad. Unconfirmed reports say he was killed in early April by a Ukrainian drone strike.

Major General Vladimir Selivyorstov: 53, thought to command the Africa Corps in Mali. He previously led the 106th Airborne Division in Ukraine in 2022.

Key Figures in the FLA

Tuareg separatists have been fighting since before Mali's independence in 1960. The FLA was formed in 2024 from the merger of earlier movements.

Alghabass Ag Intalla: 54, leader of the FLA, from a noble Tuareg lineage in Kidal. He was the city's representative in parliament before the 2012 uprising. He joined the al-Qaeda-linked Ansar Dine but later returned to the mainstream separatist movement.

Bilal Ag Cherif: 49, former leader of the Azawad Liberation Movement (MNLA), was seriously wounded and evacuated to Burkina Faso for treatment. He is a key voice in peace talks and advocates for the return of Malian refugees.

Key Figures in Ideological Armed Movements

Iyad Ag Ghaly: 72, leader of JNIM, once founded Ansar Dine. JNIM has about 10,000 fighters. Ghaly was a musician, took part in the 1990s rebellion, and later signed a peace deal with Bamako. Saudi Arabia expelled him in 2010 for suspected al-Qaeda links. After returning, he founded Ansar Dine and joined the 2012 rebellion, but later pushed out the MNLA.

Amadou Khoufa: Deputy leader of JNIM, an ethnic Fulani—a group seen as marginalized in Mali. He founded Katiba Macina, which later merged into JNIM, advocating hardline Islam and calling for an Islamic republic.

Abu al-Bara al-Sahrawi: The emir (wali) of ISSP. His father, Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi, joined al-Mourabitoun (part of JNIM), later pledged allegiance to ISIL, and was killed by French forces in 2021. His son succeeded him.