Al-Qaeda-affiliated militant groups in Mali launched coordinated attacks on military bases, though analysts question their ability to definitively defeat the current regime and its Russian mercenary allies.

<p>Coordinated attack by JNIM and the Tuareg minority inflicted significant casualties on government forces and Russian auxiliaries</p><p>When al-Qaida-affiliated Islamic militants launched a series of attacks on military bases and raids into major towns in Mali and neighbouring Burkina Faso last summer, observers suggested they had been inspired by their counterparts in Syria, who had overthrown the regime of Bashar al-Assad and taken power six months or so earlier.</p><p>Despite the <a href="h...