The UN Security Council on Friday condemned a series of attacks by Al-Qaeda-linked jihadists and Tuareg separatists that began late last month, and called for those responsible to be held accountable.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," it said in a statement.
The council also "underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice."
Mali has been gripped by uncertainty since the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) teamed up with Tuareg rebels of the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) in April to target ruling junta positions.
A coordinated deadly offensive on April 25 and 26 targeted strategic towns and killed the country's influential defense minister.
Kidal and other towns and villages in the north were captured and are now controlled by the FLA and the jihadists, who have since imposed a blockade on the capital, Bamako.
Since 2012, Mali has faced a deepening security crisis driven by violence affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, as well as separatists and community-based criminal networks.
