Fighting was reported Sunday in Mali’s northern city of Kidal between insurgents and government forces backed by Russian mercenaries. The battle follows large-scale attacks by armed groups across Mali on Saturday. In a suicide truck bombing Defense Minister Sadio Camara was killed in his residence and General Assimi Goïta, who heads the ruling junta, was reportedly evacuated from his residence.

Saturday’s apparently coordinated offensive across Mali included strikes on military and urban targets from the north of the country to the capital, Bamako, in one of the most significant escalations in recent months. The Malian army confirmed the attacks and claimed to have situation in “under control.”

The groups taking part reportedly included al-Qaeda affiliate Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) and the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), a Tuareg-dominated rebel alliance. The FLA on Saturday said they had seized Kidal, supported by jihadist fighters.

“Analysts caution against drawing premature conclusions about state collapse,” according to Yakubu Mohammed, reporting for Premium Times. ”Despite the breadth of the current attacks, there is, so far, no clear indication of an imminent breakdown of the Malian state.”

The latest battles in Mali come as insecurity spreads across the Sahael region. ”Increasingly capable and organized militant Islamist groups in the Sahel, Somalia, and the Lake Chad Basin continue to expand their reach and lethality, the Africa Center for Strategic Studies reported in a Infographic published earlier this month. ”Fatalities linked to militant Islamist groups in Africa continue to occur at near record levels.”

“Irregular armed groups in West Africa have exploited tactical deficiencies in military force structures, requiring greater integration of mobility, intelligence, and sustainment capabilities within African counterinsurgency operations,” according to Fatai Alli in an ACSS Security Brief issued in February.