Russia's Africa Corps Withdraws from Kidal Under FLA Escort — Kidal Falls Completely to Tuareg-Jihadist Alliance

On April 26, 2026, Russia's Africa Corps and Malian Armed Forces soldiers who had been besieged at Camp 2 (the former MINUSMA camp) in Kidal since the April 25 JNIM-FLA offensive agreed to withdraw under escort by the Front de Libération de l'Azawad (FLA). According to France 24 and multiple corroborating sources, a convoy assembled at the entrance to the former MINUSMA camp and departed under armed FLA rebel escort — the same forces that had seized the city. The FLA subsequently declared Kidal 'totally' under its control, with videos circulating online showing armed FLA fighters inside the National Youth Camp of Kidal, the governor's residence, and other government facilities. This represents the largest single territorial loss for the Mali junta and its Russian partners since Africa Corps deployed in December 2021: Kidal — the city the junta had captured in November 2023 after an 11-year Tuareg absence — was lost in less than 24 hours. Russia-aligned media complained that the Africa Corps' role in defending Bamako was being deliberately ignored by Western outlets, noting Russian mercenary helicopters had patrolled Bamako's airport area during the April 25 attacks. The Kidal withdrawal removes the FAMa-Africa Corps presence from northern Mali's most strategically symbolic city. The FLA's alliance with JNIM — the first publicly confirmed coordinated military operation between Tuareg separatists and the al-Qaeda affiliate — creates a unified rebel-jihadist front controlling the Kidal-Gao corridor and effectively severing the Mali state's presence in the Azawad region. Analysts note this development reverses the single most-cited success of the Russia-Mali partnership.