Mali rebels capture UAV ground station in Kidal

A still from a video released by Russia's African Corps on 26 April 2026 shows a BM-21 MRL firing from a location that could be identified as one of the landing pads at the helicopter area at the former MINUSMA base south of Kidal city. (African Corps)

Ground-control equipment for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) made by the Turkish company Baykar Technology was abandoned when Malian and Russian forces withdrew from the northern city of Kidal after rebel groups launched a co-ordinated offensive across the country.

The African Corps, the Russian military force deployed to Mali and elsewhere in the continent, released a statement on social media on 26 April saying that approximately 10-12,000 militants from the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), a Tuareg separatist group, and Al-Qaeda's local affiliate, were involved in the offensive, but had failed to achieve their objectives and were suffering heavy casualties.

“In the areas of Kidal and Gao, Ukrainian and European mercenaries operating in Africa participated in attacks on state facilities and government force units, employing Western-origin portable air-defence missiles such as Stinger and Mistral,” it claimed without providing supporting evidence.

It released videos of the fighting that included a BM-21 multiple rocket launcher (MRL) fitted with a protective cage firing from a location that Janes identified as the helicopter area at the former United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (Mission multidimensionnelle intégrée des Nations Unies pour la stabilisation au Mali): MINUSMA) peacekeeper base south of Kidal city.

Later that day the African Corps said several outposts around Kidal had been evacuated, with units retreating to more advantageous positions.