Tuareg rebels withdraw from strategic town of Kidal in northern Mali

The Azawad Liberation Front said sustained air strikes by Malian troops and Russian allies forced its tactical retreat.

Mali’s Tuareg rebels have announced they are withdrawing from the strategic town of Kidal, in the north of the country.

The Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), a coalition formed in 2024 uniting Tuareg and northern separatist factions, said in a statement on Tuesday that it had decided to carry out a “controlled withdrawal” from Kidal six months after capturing the town and amid fresh air strikes by Mali’s military backed by Russian fighters.

“The FLA specifies that this is a temporary operational measure, also intended to preserve its human and logistical capabilities intact. This methodical withdrawal from the area took place without any direct combat having yet pitted its forces against the enemy,” the statement said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Mali’s military said it had launched large-scale air and ground operations in the region ⁠⁠around Kidal.

The goals of the operations included “tracking down and neutralizing” armed groups ⁠⁠in the area, destroying their supply networks, and restoring “lasting security” and free movement for people and goods, a Malian military statement said.

Pro-government fighters, including Russian paramilitaries, re-entered Kidal on Tuesday afternoon, a security source said.

Mali has been gripped by conflict since 2012, when a Tuareg separatist rebellion in the north was overtaken by al-Qaeda-linked Islamist militants, who later consolidated under Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) in 2017.

While the FLA presents itself as a secular nationalist movement seeking independence for Mali’s Azawad region and JNIM is an al-Qaeda-affiliated group, the two sides have set ideological differences aside to confront the Malian government.

The FLA says it remains committed to 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 ruled the country since a 2021 coup, pledging to restore order and unity.

JNIM has gained in strength ‌‌since the Malian soldiers who seized power expelled French forces and some 15,000 United Nations peacekeepers, ‌‌and turned to Russian paramilitaries for defence support.

Since the FLA and JNIM launched a joint offensive in April, the conflict has escalated with increasing attacks on the military-backed government forces.

The Malian government says it is working to restore state authority and dismantle what it calls a “terrorist alliance” between the FLA and JNIM.