On Friday, the refinery shut down and evacuated tankers from the port after heavy shelling hit multiple locations inside the facility.

The cause of the fighting was unclear. Local media said it began after a security operation against armed groups.

Mali has faced a security crisis since 2012 involving groups linked to al Qaeda and the Islamic State group, local criminal networks, and pro-independence movements. The country has been under military rule since coups in 2020.

No images showed the rebel groups possessing TB2 drones.

Ethiopia denied the claim, and the UAE has not yet publicly responded, though, in the past, it has denied funding the war.

Islamic State in the Sahel Province and JNIM have fought each other for years. Since 2019, the two groups have clashed hundreds of times, killing more than 2,100 people.

The Islamic State West Africa Province claimed responsibility.

Kidal, a Tuareg stronghold, was retaken in November 2023 by Malian forces backed by Wagner, ending more than a decade of rebel control. 

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, experienced five coups in the 20th century but has not had one since its return to democracy in 1999.

A 2023 U.S. State Department report documented cases of torture, extreme overcrowding, and poor sanitary conditions in Equatorial Guinea’s prisons.