Russian Africa Corps confirms withdrawal from Kidal after Malian rebel offensive
Malian soldiers stand guard during a patrol following an attack on Mali's main military base in Kati on April 26, 2026 (Photo: REUTERS/Stringer)
Russian Ministry of Defense’s Africa Corps units and Malian government troops withdrew from the northeastern town of Kidal following a wave of coordinated insurgent attacks, the Africa Corps reported on April 27.
Russia’s so-called Africa Corps officially confirmed its departure from Kidal, alongside members of the Malian Armed Forces. The units abandoned the settlement but continue to "perform assigned combat missions" despite what they described as a "complex" security situation.
Mali is currently facing its largest insurgent offensive in years, targeting the ruling military junta and its allies, including Russian mercenaries.
Coordinated attacks occurred across the country through April 26. In the capital, Bamako, reports of explosions and prolonged gunfire surfaced overnight, while clashes were also reported in Kidal on the same day.
Unconfirmed videos circulating on social media purportedly show rebels seizing military sites and the wreckage of a downed helicopter allegedly transporting Africa Corps personnel. Fighting was also recorded near the town of Kati—home to a strategic military base near the capital—as well as in Gao and the central cities of Sévaré and Mopti.
Mali is currently governed by a military junta led by General Assimi Goïta, who seized power in a 2020 coup. While the junta initially enjoyed public support for promising to resolve the nation's security crisis, the country remains embroiled in long-standing insurgencies involving militants linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.
Additionally, the north is home to the Azawad Liberation Front, a separatist movement seeking an independent ethnic state for the Tuareg people. The movement currently controls significant portions of northern territory.
Following the 2020 coup, UN peacekeepers and French counter-terrorism forces exited the country at the junta's request, leading the military government to enlist Russian mercenaries.
The Africa Corps, overseen by the Russian Ministry of Defense and composed of African recruits and former Wagner Group fighters, now serves as the junta's primary foreign security partner.
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