United Nations Security Council condemns Mali attacks, calls for accountability

The United Nations Security Council has strongly condemned a wave of coordinated attacks in Mali involving Al-Qaeda-linked militants and Tuareg separatist fighters, calling for accountability for those responsible as insecurity deepens across the West African nation.

In a statement issued on Friday, the Council “condemned in the strongest terms the heinous and cowardly terrorist attacks in several locations across Mali on 25 April 2026 and in the days that followed,” and urged that perpetrators, financiers and sponsors of the violence be brought to justice.

The attacks, which began in late April, were carried out by the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), an Al-Qaeda-affiliated network in the Sahel, in coordination with the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), a Tuareg separatist movement.

The coordinated offensive targeted multiple military positions and strategic towns, including operations that reportedly resulted in the death of Mali’s defence minister and the loss of key government-held areas in the north.

Following the attacks, the FLA and allied militant fighters seized control of several towns, including Kidal and surrounding settlements, later imposing a blockade on Bamako, further tightening pressure on the ruling military authorities.

Mali has remained at the centre of a prolonged security crisis since 2012, driven by the expansion of jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda and Islamic State, alongside separatist insurgencies and armed criminal networks operating across the Sahel region.