May 14, 2026 Reading time: 2 minutes
At least four airstrikes rocked Kidal overnight, leaving behind significant material damage, according to an anonymous local witness who spoke on Thursday. One strike demolished a home near a former market in the city, while another gouged a deep crater in the expansive courtyard of the regional governor’s office — a compound reclaimed by the National Front for the Liberation of Azawad (FLA) in late April. The FLA operates in coordination with the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), the Sahel branch of Al-Qaeda led by Iyad Ag Ghaly.
«We are focusing on high-value targets. Our strategy is clear. Aerial operations will intensify in the coming days,» declared a Malian army officer stationed at the command post in Mopti, central Mali, on Thursday.
Uncertainty grips the strategic northern city
Kidal, a key city in northern Mali, remained eerily quiet on Thursday morning, with minimal traffic on its streets, the witness noted. The same observer added that numerous vehicles were seen leaving the city under cover of night.
The country faces a critical security situation and widespread uncertainty following unprecedented coordinated attacks by JNIM jihadists and FLA rebels against strategic positions held by the military junta in Bamako.
FLA advances across northern Mali
During this latest offensive, the rebel coalition seized Kidal — the largest city in northern Mali — after intense clashes. The FLA, an independence movement primarily composed of Tuareg fighters with Arab community involvement, asserts claims over the Azawad region in northern Mali.
The rebel alliance has vowed to capture additional major northern cities. The Azawad, as defined by the FLA, spans the administrative regions of Kidal, Gao, Ménaka, and Timbuktu. Tuareg groups have waged armed struggles for decades, citing long-standing marginalization, with Kidal emerging as a focal point of their resistance.