What happened
The FLA and JNIM launch the war's largest coordinated offensive since 2012, reported as the first time the two openly coordinated operations: the FLA takes Kidal as government and Russian forces withdraw from the far north, reportedly under negotiated terms, and a car bombing at Kati kills Defence Minister Sadio Camara. The withdrawals extend well beyond Kidal — Africa Corps is reported to have left Aguelhok on 27 April, though a Malian garrison stayed and repelled an attack there in July; government and Russian forces left Tessalit, where the FLA was filmed in the town by 1 May; Malian troops left Tessit in the Gao region, and Ber in the Tombouctou region was given up under negotiation. IS-Sahel joins on 28 April, occupies the vacated Labbezanga border post and briefly enters Ménaka town before withdrawing under reported Russian pressure. JNIM reimposes a full blockade of Bamako on 28 April, claims wide gains around Mopti, and reportedly follows with checkpoints on the capital's approaches.
The offensive reversed the junta's signature achievement, demonstrated FLA–JNIM operational coordination at national scale, and reached the government's inner circle. It did not settle control everywhere it touched — but it redrew the map of the possible. The withdrawals are the part that lasted: positions across three northern regions were given up inside three days, several of them reportedly by negotiation rather than in battle, and none was retaken until the army and Africa Corps re-entered Kidal on 6 October 2026, again without a battle for the town. Two of the three gains that were seized rather than vacated — Labbezanga and Ménaka — were taken from ground already abandoned or given up again within days, which is the distinction between reach and control this module keeps insisting on.
Confidence: Moderate
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