Russia’s Africa Corps fighters defended an encircled strongpoint in Mali for six days until new troops came to relieve them, a helicopter pilot with the call sign Krym told TASS. "There was such a strongpoint in the town of Anefis, where they (Africa Corps fighters - TASS) were surrounded for about five or six days. There were no casualties among our troops, thank God, we held our ground," Krym said. On April 25, 2026, coordinated attacks by radical armed groups targeted several cities in Mali. The coordinated attacks were carried out by units of the Azawad Liberation Front and Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimeen, a group linked to al-Qaeda (a terrorist organization banned in Russia).