The Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) said its fighters shot down a Russian Africa Corps Mi-24 attack helicopter, a Soviet-designed gunship NATO designates as the Hind, near Gao on Saturday as the FLA and al-Qaeda affiliate Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) launched simultaneous strikes against five locations across Mali.
The reported loss, which neither Russia nor Mali has confirmed, would be the second Africa Corps helicopter downed by rebel fire in roughly 10 weeks.
The OSINTWarfare open-source monitoring account reported that FLA fighters ambushed an Africa Corps convoy moving from Gao toward Anefis, shooting down the helicopter and destroying several military trucks in the process.
The Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) ambushed a convoy belonging to Russia’s Africa Corps as it departed Gao for Anéfis to reinforce the city amid ongoing attacks.
During the ambush, a Russian Mi-24 helicopter was shot down, and several trucks and technical vehicles were also… pic.twitter.com/HR4uUym5J0
— OSINTWarfare (@OSINTWarfare) July 5, 2026
Video circulating on social media appeared to show a burning fuselage, though neither Russia nor Mali confirmed the loss. If substantiated, it follows the Mi-8AMTSh transport helicopter Africa Corps lost near Wabaria in the Gao region on April 25, pointing to a developing rebel air denial capability against Africa Corps aviation assets that has received little attention in broader coverage of the conflict.
Attacks began around 5 a.m. local time at Aguelhok, Anefis, and Gao in the north, Sevare in central Mali, and Kenieroba in the south. The Malian army reported 20 fighters killed in Sevare and six in Gao and said the situation was “totally under control.”
FLA spokesperson Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane told Reuters that fighters had entered Anefis, one of two remaining Malian army positions in the Kidal region after April’s offensive, while a regional elected official told AFP that rebels controlled the town with Russian troops “entrenched in camp” and Malian soldiers taken prisoner.
Africa Corps said its forces remained in the city alongside Malian troops. None of these accounts has been independently verified.
The Kenieroba prison holding political detainees, 46 miles south of Bamako, also came under attack. Security sources told Reuters the assault was repelled.
Alex Vines of the European Council on Foreign Relations told Al Jazeera the attacks have squeezed Malian government control into “securitised enclaves and corridors.” “Foreign military support has limited success,” he said.
