Tuareg rebels in Mali have announced they are withdrawing from the strategic northern town of Kidal after six months of controlling the key location.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) — a coalition formed in 2024 between Tuareg separatist and northern factions — said it had decided to carry out a "controlled withdrawal" from Kidal amid new airstrikes by the Malian army with support from Russian forces.
"The FLA states that this is a temporary operational measure, also aimed at preserving its personnel and logistics capabilities intact. This methodical withdrawal is taking place without direct clashes between FLA forces and the adversary," the statement said.
Earlier the same day, Mali's army said it had launched a large-scale air and ground operation in the area around Kidal. The objectives include "hunting down and neutralizing" armed groups in the region, destroying their supply networks, and restoring "lasting security" along with freedom of movement for people and goods.
According to a security source, pro-government gunmen, including Russian paramilitary forces, entered Kidal on Tuesday afternoon.
Mali has been mired in conflict since 2012, when a Tuareg separatist uprising in the north was overshadowed by extremist Islamists linked to al-Qaeda, which later merged into Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) in 2017.
While the FLA describes itself as a secular nationalist movement seeking independence for Mali's Azawad region, JNIM is an al-Qaeda-affiliated group; the two sides have set aside ideological differences to confront the Malian authorities.
The FLA insists it still pursues independence for Azawad — the name separatists use for northern Mali — while JNIM says it is fighting to "liberate" Mali and overthrow the government.
The military has run the country since a 2021 coup, pledging to restore order and unity.
JNIM has grown stronger since Mali's soldiers seized power, expelled French forces and about 15,000 United Nations peacekeepers, and then turned to Russian paramilitary forces for defense support.
Since the FLA and JNIM launched a joint offensive in April, the conflict has escalated with increasingly frequent attacks targeting government forces backed by the military.
The Malian government says it is working to restore state authority and dismantle what it calls a "terrorist alliance" between the FLA and JNIM.
