Newsletters
Russia's Africa Corps has reportedly reached an agreement with the Azawad Liberation Front (ALF) and JNIM, allowing its forces and the Malian army to withdraw from the city of Kidal in northern Mali.
A convoy assembling at the entrance of the former MINUSMA camp and departing under FLA escort on Sunday, handing the rebel-led alliance effective control of one of Mali's most strategically significant cities.
A Tuareg official confirmed the arrangement to Agence France-Presse (AFP): "An accord has been reached permitting the Malian army and its Africa Corps allies to leave camp 2, where they were holed up since yesterday."
French-language reporting from the scene described Africa Corps elements assembling at the entrance of the former MINUSMA camp before departing in a convoy under FLA escort.
Snipers who had been entrenched in a position blocking the rebel advance toward the camp were included in the withdrawal.
A Kidal resident told AFP, "We saw a military convoy leave, but don't know the details of what's happening. Fighters from armed movements have now taken over the streets."
The Africa Corps withdrawal follows FLA claims Saturday that it had taken "total control" of Kidal in coordination with JNIM, with only a "small residual pocket of resistance," the Russia-Mali camp, remaining.
That resistance has now negotiated its exit.
Kidal was retaken by Malian forces and Russian Wagner fighters in November 2023, ending more than a decade of rebel control.
It's fall Sunday to the FLA-JNIM coalition, forcing a Russian withdrawal under rebel escort, which reverses that operation entirely.
Set as preferred source
Set as preferred source
2 min read
1 min read
