The family of Mali’s defence minister has said he was killed in an apparent suicide truck bombing on his residence near the capital Bamako.
Multiple news outlets reported the death of Sadio Camara, part of a wave of coordinated attacks by jihadist militants and separatists carried out across the country.
There has been no confirmation from the military junta, but further reports say its head, Gen Assimi Goita, was moved to a safe location after his home was targeted.
Meanwhile further north Russian mercenaries hired by Mali’s military agreed to withdraw from Kidal after two days of clashes, the separatist Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) group said.
For years, Mali has been plagued by insurgencies by groups affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, and the FLA.
Quoting Camara’s family and French media, news agencies said the attack – launched by militants affiliated with al-Qaeda in Kati on Saturday – also killed at least three of Camara’s family members.
Fighting on Saturday had been reported in the town, a major military base outside the capital, in Gao and Kidal in the north, and the central cities of Sevare and Mopti.
Reports suggest the assault by the separatists – who seek a breakaway ethnic Tuareg state in the north – was primarily focused on northern cities, while the jihadist group Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) had staged simultaneous attacks on multiple locations across the country.