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Tuareg separatists and al-Qaeda-linked militants launched a coordinated offensive across Mali over the weekend, seizing a key northern town and putting government forces and their Russian backers on the defensive.

Some shit you should know before you dig in: Mali has been run by a military junta under General Assimi Goïta since a 2021 coup. After kicking out French forces and UN peacekeepers, the regime handed its security over to Russia’s Africa Corps, which took over after the Wagner Group fell apart. Two rebel forces are driving the fight against the Malian government: the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), a bloc of Tuareg separatists fighting for a secular, independent homeland they call Azawad in the north, and Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), al-Qaeda’s arm in the Sahel, which wants to bring down the junta and impose sharia law. Since late April, the two have struck in coordinated waves that analysts rank as the biggest rebel push since the 2012 revolt that first tore Mali in two.

What’s going on now: The newest wave landed Saturday, July 4, hitting towns and military bases spread over more than 600 miles in the span of 24 hours. The centerpiece was Anéfis, valued for where it sits, about 60 miles from Kidal, the symbolic “capital” of the Tuareg movement that the FLA has held since late April.

A regional official, speaking to Reuters, said the rebels have Anéfis and that Russian fighters are essentially trapped there after many Malian troops were captured. Military helicopters tried to get into the town Sunday to pull out the wounded and drop off supplies, but reportedly took fire and couldn’t touch down.

The FLA also said it downed a Russian-flown Mi-24 gunship outside Gao, putting out video it claimed showed the wreckage. Analysts who looked at the clip believe it might have been taken out by an anti-aircraft gun bolted to a pickup, and photos from the wreck seemed to show safety labels written in Russian. Despite this, neither Russia nor Mali confirmed the loss.

Mali’s army continued to insist it repelled the attacks and said the situation was “totally under control,” claiming 20 “terrorists” were killed in Sévaré and six in Gao. But the military stayed largely quiet after the second wave of attacks Sunday.

This all comes as Mali has accused Ukraine of arming the rebels, a claim Ukrainian officials deny.