Sawt Falasteen - Mali junta chief makes first appearance since rebel attacks

Jihadists and Tuareg separatists are still positioned in the vast Sahelian country's north, three days after launching the stunning wave of attacks, in what Moscow said remained a "difficult" situation.

Junta chief Assimi Goita had made no appearance or statement for three days, fuelling doubts about his ability to cling on to power, but on Tuesday his office released photos of him meeting wounded soldiers and civilians, as well as the Russian envoy.

The coordinated dawn offensive on Saturday against strategic junta positions, including areas around the capital, Bamako, killed at least 23 people, a hospital source told AFP on Tuesday.

The attacks were the largest in nearly 15 years and saw two former foes -- Islamist insurgents and Tuareg separatists -- join forces against the military junta and its Russian paramilitary backers, analysts say.

Defence Minister Sadio Camara -- seen as the mastermind behind the junta's pivot to Russia -- was killed in two days of fierce fighting between the army and Tuareg rebels of the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) allied with the Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM).

At his meeting with Goita, Russian ambassador Igor Gromyko "reaffirmed his country’s commitment to stand with Mali in the fight against terrorism", according to a statement by the Malian leader's office.

Goita also visited wounded civilians and soldiers at a hospital in Kati, about 15 kilometres (nine miles) from Bamako, a separate statement said.

Russia's defence ministry earlier said the rebels, who have captured a key town in the mostly desert north, were "regrouping" and the situation "remains difficult".

It confirmed that mercenaries from Russia's Africa Corps, controlled by the government in Moscow and sent to back up the Malian junta, had been forced to withdraw from the northern town of Kidal, now under the armed groups' control.

The Kremlin, separately, said it urgently wanted peace and stability in Mali, which has battled more than a decade of jihadist violence and other conflict.

- Abandoned and withdrawn -

The assaults raise questions about the junta's ability to tackle the armed groups, despite its insistence that its strategy, foreign partnerships and increased military efforts have stemmed the jihadist threat.

The notable absence of Goita, who seized power in 2020 pledging to combat the Islamic militants, had prompted uncertainty about the future of the country's military leaders.

A Malian security source told AFP that Goita was not taking any risks for "security reasons".

"The military leadership is currently drawing lessons from the prevailing situation," an elected official in Bamako said on condition of anonymity.

In a sign of the high tensions, the army has abandoned several positions in the northern Gao region, local sources told AFP on Tuesday.

"The military have abandoned their position in Labbezanga, near the Niger border. They have withdrawn to Ansogo," a local politician told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Gao is the army's second-largest military stronghold after Kati, a garrison town near Bamako which is home to several senior junta officials and was targeted in the weekend attacks.

"Saturday's attack on the Kati (military) camp killed at least 23 civilians and soldiers," the hospital official said on condition of anonymity.

The towns of Kidal and Gao in the north, Mopti in the centre and Sevare in the centre were also targeted.

- Diversion? -

The attacks near the centres of Malian power have been seen by some analysts as a diversion to seize Kidal.

Kidal, a pro-independence stronghold, was controlled by Tuareg rebel groups for years before being retaken in November 2023 in an army offensive, supported by Russian mercenaries from Africa Corps' predecessor, the Wagner Group.

The attacks are reminiscent of a crisis that rocked Mali in 2012, when Tuareg rebels joined forces with jihadists to capture strategic hubs in the vast, remote north.

That offensive was repelled by forces from former colonial ruler France, who have since left the Sahel country.

The alliance between the jihadists and Tuareg rebels eventually unravelled when they turned on each other and the jihadists drove the Tuareg separatists out.

The latest attacks are the result of a new alliance forged a year ago.

Although the two groups have different goals, according to experts, they are united against a common enemy -- the military junta that has ruled since 2020 and its Russian paramilitary backers.

B.AbuZeid--SF-PST