Tensions are escalating in northern Mali as the military intensifies airstrikes on Kidal, a key town now controlled by Tuareg separatists and jihadist groups following a deadly offensive last month.

Mali’s military has carried out fresh overnight airstrikes on the northern town of Kidal as fighting intensifies in the country’s troubled desert region.

Military officials say the strikes targeted specific positions held by Tuareg separatists and their jihadist allies, warning that more attacks could follow in the coming days. Witnesses in Kidal reported at least four airstrikes overnight, with buildings damaged, including a house near the old market and part of the governor’s office compound.

Residents also described an unusually tense atmosphere across the town, with deserted roads and minimal movement early Thursday morning.

Cbinews.tv reports that Kidal has remained under the control of the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) and the Al-Qaeda-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) since a coordinated offensive in late April.

The attacks reportedly led to the capture of several northern towns and the death of Mali’s influential defence minister.

The alliance between Tuareg separatists and jihadist fighters has further deepened instability in Mali’s north, while reports indicate that routes leading to the capital, Bamako, are now under blockade.

The Tuareg people, spread across Mali, Niger, Algeria, Libya and Burkina Faso, have long accused governments in the region of marginalisation, with Kidal remaining a major centre of the decades-long conflict.

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