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News & Current Events Apr 26, 2026 at 10:44 PM

Malian defense minister killed in attack as jihadi and rebel forces seized towns and military bases

Posted by DoremusJessup


Malian defense minister killed in attack as jihadi and rebel forces seized towns and military bases
PBS News
Malian defense minister killed in attack as jihadi and rebel forces seized towns and military bases
Mali's defense minister was killed in a sweeping attack by jihadis and rebels who seized several towns and military bases, authorities said Sunday.

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Thurak0 1 day ago +520
> Following military coups, the juntas in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso turned from Western allies to Russia for help in combating Islamic militants. > But the security situation in the region has worsened in recent times, with a record number of attacks by militants. Government forces have also been accused of killing civilians they suspect of collaborating with militants. Yeah, no shit, Russia has wars way closer at home with higher priority for them.
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Eastern_Hornet_6432 1 day ago +164
I wonder, though: who commands the Russian Wagner mercs in Africa now that Prigozhin is dead? I think I'd heard something about how they'd come more directly under the control of the Kremlin, but I dunno what that means, organizationally. Whose fuckup is this?
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Not_Cleaver 1 day ago +129
Technically, it would be Russia’s, but they don’t really give a shit except for any valuable resources they can exploit. So, more like the Malian military who believed the worthless promises.
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Vykrumsky 1 day ago +29
Did they not just take all of Iran's physical gold... Like they'll just give it back right? Brick for brick?
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antaran 1 day ago +56
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa_Corps_(Russia) It's now called the "Africa Corps" and a direct subsidary of the Russian Ministry of Defence.
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xmuskorx 1 day ago +31
They are not even hiding that they are Nazis
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matdan12 1 day ago +28
They never were, the name Wagner gives it away.
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faffc260 1 day ago +64
wagner turned into the russian africa corps after his mutiny and is now under direct russian military command afaik
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godisanelectricolive 1 day ago +14
The commander of Wagner’s successor in Africa, the Africa Corps, is Yunus-bek Yevkurov.
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ringtail_catz 1 day ago +13
I think Russia essentially nationalized Wagner, didn’t it?
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meerkat2018 1 day ago +10
Yes, technically they are now a subsidiary of Russia’s Ministry of Defense. However, Kremlin is trying to keep them as far away from Russia as possible. I bet if something happens to them, Putin won’t be too upset.
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Comfortable_Pea_1693 1 day ago +2
Pevgeny Yrigozin probably
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Spudtron98 1 day ago +14
And the Russians are just shit at this.
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EasyE1979 1 day ago +198
Half of the country is in denial of these attacks. They are cooked.
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DeeSnarl 1 day ago +46
Can you talk more about that?
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Rapa_Nui 1 day ago +168
Since the war started and especially since the new junta seized power, the Malian public opinion is split into several factions. Opponents : They are disappointed by the way the junta behaves and wants them out. Due to the severe repressions they are often in exile or talk anonymously online. Enemies : Islamic terrorists, Tuareg independentists. They actively fight them Supporters : They are often hyper patriotic and will simply reject any information painting the authorities and the war on terror in an unflattering fashion. Any report claiming that things aren't going well is systematically rejected and categorized as a French fabrication. The state media is often misrepresenting the situation on the ground but it's much deeper than that. The situation is so traumatic that many people are simply in denial and always find a conspiracy.
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NoName-Cheval03 1 day ago +44
It should be taken into account that most supporters are malians not into the country anymore and are commenting that everything is fine from some western big cities.
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MrCookie2099 1 day ago +11
> Any report claiming that things aren't going well is systematically rejected and categorized as a French fabrication. It sounds like a comfortable way of thinking, honestly.
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EdHake 1 day ago +13
>It sounds like a comfortable way of thinking, honestly. Typicla Anglo-sphere mindset which can be resumed by Condoleezza Rice 2003 quote: « Punish the french, ignore the German, forgive the Russian »
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faffc260 1 day ago +141
russians didn't have any intel on the attacks, guess their military intelligence is too focused on ukraine to support it's "allies" in west africa..
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30yearCurse 1 day ago +83
They really do not care either, they are there for profit and not really to help. I would wager Mali would like to see the French return, but kinda of stuck with the ru for now.
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Eastern_Hornet_6432 1 day ago +30
>I would wager Mali would like to see the French return What are you basing that on? My impression was that France was deeply unpopular across West Africa due to grievances over the CFA Franc.
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DeadAhead7 1 day ago +102
France is deeply unpopular in Mali because they got between the northern Tuaregs and the southern Malian troops. As soon as they left entire villages were massacred, and now the country's falling apart like in 2012 before OP Serval. Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, the AES, are currently military dictatorships who use France as the scapegoat while their country is actively falling apart. Complaining about the Franc CFA is just another propaganda tool. Every country is free to leave the Franc CFA, a few countries have. Mali did so temporarily last century before rejoining. But frankly, it's just kind of a good deal to use the FCFA, since it's stable. Mali confirmed it will keep using the FCFA just 2 months ago. Mind you ever since France joined the Eurozone, the Franc CFA by definition isn't really managed by France, but by the ECB. The last reform has stopped requiring having 50% of the state's reserves stored in Paris (which was insurance to be able to maintain the parity with the Franc then the Euro) and France gave up it's management seat at the BCEAO. The Franc is French only by name (hence the rebranding to Eco), and by the fact France is the reason it's pegged to the Euro. France has lost the vast majority of their influence over West Africa, and Africa in general, over the past decade.
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Jebrowsejuste 1 day ago +71
If it was really about the Franc CFA, they would have left it like Madagascar and a handful of other countries. Make no mistake, we French ARE deeply unpopular due to past colonialism and neo-colonialism, but we are also used as scapegoats for every problem the governments can't or won't fix. The Franc CFA is backed by Euro (and previously the French Franc) which has benefits in economic stability, and downsides in lack of flexibility, but they could absolutely leave it and print their own bills. It's just not convenient, unlike blaming France for the fact they won't print a new independant money. Same deal with the local Al Qaeda franchise, they keep feeding them men with their ethnic cleansings and village massacres, and the corruption in their army allows the jihadi to buy rntire military kits on the c****, but admitting that makes them look incompetent, so instead they claim France is financing and equiping the terrorists.
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Sixcoup 1 day ago +31
> due to grievances over the CFA Franc. This really is the lowest level of analysis. You just repeated something you've heard somewhere while having no f****** clue what you're actually talking about.. Mali have some legitimate reasons to be angry with France but that's definitely not one of them. Every country is free to ditch the Franc CFA, if it wants to. In fact Mali literally did between 1962 and 1984. But turns out, despite all its fault, the franc CFA still has some really big advantage that out weight a lot of the cons. When Mali used the franc Malien, the average inflation over the period was >20%; and it had to be devalued 3 times because it was worth absolutely nothing and they couldn't buy anything from their neighboring countries that were still using the franc cfa. And that's why, in 15 month, 15 countries will ditch the franc CFA, and will adopt the Eco. Because while a single country economy can't make it work, if several countries works together it's a lot easier. Mali is part of that project, and that was a decision that was taken by the previous democratically elected governement. So yeah, contrary to what you think, the reason the Junta has kicked the french army, has absolutely nothing to do with the franc CFA. The real reason is a lot simpler in fact. France was in Mali because the former government invited them. When the junta took power, the french army refused to work with the junta, and only wanted to work with the democratically elected government. So basically the Junta had a foreign army on its territory that refused to work for them. Obviously they didn't want that. The Junta wanted to constrain part of the population by force, which the french army categorically refused. So they kicked them, called the Russians, who not only said nothing about the crime the junta were committing, but even gladly helped them doing it. And finally the Junta is also as most juntas are f****** clueless about how to run a country, so they need scape goats they can blame when something goes wrong, and the french army was perfect on that role. The junta ran a strong propaganda against the french army, and managed to make out of the french the culprit for almost everything that went wrong in the last years in Malia. They literally slaughtered an entire village with the Russian help, and tried to blame the french for doing it. And while the rest of the world saw the images the french army gave to prove that was in fact Wagner who buried the corpse. The Malians themselves only heard the propaganda and to this day still mostly believe that the french slaughtered entire village, and they are much safer being protected by the real culprit.
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30yearCurse 1 day ago +29
Western countries are more responsive to local governments and country governments. Generally they try to help local inhabitants with medical help etc. You can complain about Western troop actions and get a response. You can kick them out and they will leave, they will try to insist that you are being short sighted. Ru troops, IE, Russia Africa Corp as they are calling them are generally mercenary troops and from what I read before are not really concerned about local populations. You cannot call up Moscow and say, he troops are misbehaving. Like mercenaries, they are there for profit. Ru would never had left Syria, except their position was untenable, resupply was impossible and they were supporters of the former leader. While French troops are probably technically mercenaries. (Foreign Legion) for all practical purposes they report to the French government and are not there for profit motives. France was not the best of colonial administrators, and there may be some bad memories, I believe the "hate" was stirred up by propaganda as result of the government being deposed and France was advocating for the deposed administration, Moscow seeing opportunities to find new places for theft and innocents to fill the ranks on their death march in UKR worked to kick out the French. It is an easy google to look for what did Russia say about France in Mali. [https://hrf.org/latest/russias-influence-in-mali/](https://hrf.org/latest/russias-influence-in-mali/) From the same article  The agreement between the Malian junta and Wagner allegedly [involved](https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/exclusive-deal-allowing-russian-mercenaries-into-mali-is-close-sources-2021-09-13/) Wagner receiving $10 million a month for its services and gaining access to [three gold mines](https://www.jeuneafrique.com/1374898/politique/russie-comment-wagner-compte-faire-main-basse-sur-des-mines-dor-au-mali/) in the country.
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stan_tri 1 day ago +29
> While French troops are probably technically mercenaries. (Foreign Legion) for all practical purposes they report to the French government and are not there for profit motives. The Foreign Legion is part of the regular French army and are not mercenaries.
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30yearCurse 1 day ago -1
Thanks for clearing that up, I had read a while ago that they had a seperate reporting structure and were "not allowed" on French soil.
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Jebrowsejuste 1 day ago +4
Idk where you saw that, but that source was either disinformation or repeating disinformation. They are litterally stationed on French soil outside of OPs, and regularly feature prominently in the national day parade. Also, they are an integral part of the army since the inception of the Foreign Legion, with exactly the same command chain.
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IntelArtiGen 1 day ago +23
This was mostly propaganda pushed by Wagner / Russia. France doesn't handle the money, it just prints the banknotes, which is very different. These countries can ask other countries to print their money, and they can also do it themselves. And it could be solved anyway with other countries handling this same money. Russia invested and continues to invest a lot for propaganda in these countries, but they don't care about the people which is why the situation didn't get better. France had economic interests and security interests but ultimately doesn't care that much and just left. Security interests are for everyone, terrorists may not stop at borders, and if you don't stop them there, you can't be surprised if tomorrow they're in other countries. But things can be more complicated obviously. When the leaders did a coup themselves to get the power, it's not shocking to also see them fall in a coup. And corruption can be very high in these countries.
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Felwyin 1 day ago +15
Chaos in that part of Africa create immigration that is threatening Europe. Russia has an incentive for the situation to get worse.
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30yearCurse 1 day ago +51
Russian Africa Corps... now that is just darn funny....
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Present_Student4891 1 day ago +78
Was in Mali in 1989. Crossed the Sahara from Algeria (route de tanzerouft) with Algerian truck drivers & mostly Tuareg passengers. Once we crossed the border, the Malian border officials asked for a bribe. Then when we reached the first town, Tessalit, as a westerner, I needed to check in at the police station. When I entered it was a dude’s bedroom that doubled as a whorehouse. He said, “Have a seat.” I looked around and saw no chairs except for his cot. I sat down and got my passport stamped. We made it to Gao, then I took buses to bamako. At every village bus stop, people, especially albinos, would come out to beg. My impressions of Mali: 1) lots of mosquitoes after u leave the Sahara. Take anti-malarials. 2) few old people (over 40s) on the streets, I’m guessing this is due to their poor mortality rate. Lots of energy & music tho. 3) Djenne weekly market is worth attending, but don’t stay a night there or u will get stuck like me. 4) the country is basically fucked: landlocked, few resources, but they did have a democracy back then & were optimistic. Don’t know about present day tho. I will never go back. One & done.
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Yk-156 1 day ago +52
Mali was still a one party dictatorship in '89. Traore wasn't overthrown till '91.
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Present_Student4891 1 day ago +22
Thx. Can’t remember. It was a pretty chill place then. Didn’t see any military folks.
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eucaliptooloroso 1 day ago +21
Almost 40 years ago. Not that far from half a century ago. Not saying it hasn't changed, not saying it has. Just putting it in perspective.
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Yurinator2 1 day ago +19
The people of Mali don't deserve this horse shit. I feel bad for them. They should have stuck it out with the french special forces in Africa but that's on the government.
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Past-Lunch4695 1 day ago +7
This deserves bigger headlines than it is getting!
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Local_Phenomenon 1 day ago +8
Sounds like a Russian coup
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BetSquare7190 1 day ago +11
This is a process of colonial decolonization by Jihad.
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Felwyin 1 day ago +82
Jihad is Muslim colonization. Destroying all local cultures deeper than Europe colonization ever did.
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[deleted] 1 day ago +47
[removed]
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nagabalashka 1 day ago -22
No leftists would say that
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BetSquare7190 1 day ago +17
Leftists are generally supportive of islamic "decolonization" movements. Think of the IRGC or more recently their love for Hezbollah and Hamas.
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NoName-Cheval03 1 day ago
Do not mix the vocal listnook tankies (aka useful idiots) with other regular leftists
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lollypatrolly 1 day ago +3
> Do not mix the vocal listnook tankies (aka useful idiots) with other regular leftists A leftist is definitionally a socialist or communist. While most socialists probably aren't Tankies there is plenty of overlap. I also see a lot of support for concepts like this type of "decolonization" from socialists who I don't really peg as Tankies. The more likely explanation is they're swept up in the typical anti-western Campist narratives that dominate leftist social circles.
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[deleted] 1 day ago +11
[removed]
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stogie_t 1 day ago +2
Not even trying to hide the echochamber allegations, how is this a reasonable take?
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HaViNgT 1 day ago -2
Just because we condemn Israel does not mean we support Hamas, Hezbollah or the IRGC. 
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BetSquare7190 1 day ago +17
No, but a lot of them support Hamas, Hezbollah and the IRGC.
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stogie_t 1 day ago -13
Holy strawman! Bit dishonest of you, isn't it? I'd imagine the people you’re accusing of supporting Hamas are actually just condemning genocide. But you clearly have an agenda, so of course you’d frame it that way.
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BetSquare7190 1 day ago +17
Repeating lies from Islamic terror organizations is also expressing support for them.
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stogie_t 1 day ago -6
What lie? Statistics are fact mate.
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BetSquare7190 1 day ago +1
70k death in a 2 years war is not a genocide, especially when more than half are combattants.
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Ok_Industry_8377 1 day ago +1
Islam has been in what is now Mali for close to a thousand years.
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Zabick 1 day ago +5
The red green "alliance" takes yet another giant L.
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[deleted] 1 day ago -5
[deleted]
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Eastern_Hornet_6432 1 day ago +26
No, Russia are on the government's side. Mali had a coup in 2021 and the new bosses told ECOWAS and the West to f*** off (leaving ECOWAS in 2025 alongside Burkina Faso and Niger, which also had just had coups), and now Russia mercs help them with security. Or are supposed to, at least.
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frddtwabrm04 1 day ago +14
FAFO! They did all this shit without a plan. Decolonize but have an after decolonize plan... Not bribery/corruption... New govt same as the old govt plan!
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ShermansFieldOrder66 1 day ago
Why isn't Greta sailing there to wag her finger? Hmmmm.
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69yoloswagmaster 23 hr ago +4
Its landlocked
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Fall-Winter-Summer 1 day ago -45
Poor Africans. They are getting wrecked by countless domestic conflict and foreign interference. Who's even bankrolling these terrorists? A tragedy for the common people.
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RCAF_orwhatever 1 day ago +44
You really can't lump "Africa" together as one entity that way. It is a continent of 54 countries, 1.6 billion people, and wildly diverse biomes, cultures and ethnicities.
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stogie_t 1 day ago +10
Yes but this is not good for the rest of us in stable countries on the continent. Gonna be even more refugees now smh.
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[deleted] 1 day ago -23
[deleted]
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RCAF_orwhatever 1 day ago +30
I mean India is a nation, not a continent. A diverse nation absolutely. But they have a government that (nominally) represents them. So you can speak about India, the state, and India, as represented by their government policies. Africa can't be talked about in that way. Egypt and Botswana have very little in common.
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Nadante 1 day ago +10
Glad to see someone else correcting the believe that Africa is a monilith. You're speaking to a nuance that is oft-ignored in these current times, where anti-intellectualism is trending.
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RemarkableReturn8400 1 day ago -17
They didn't seize the towns; information is out now that the terrorist were eliminated.
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