The Malian armed forces were initially formed by Malian conscript and volunteer veterans of the
French Armed Forces. In the months preceding the formation of the Malian armed forces, the French Armed Forces withdrew from their bases in Mali. Among the last bases to be closed were those at
Kati, on 8 June 1961,
Tessalit (
base aérienne secondaire), on 8 July 1961,
Gao (
base aérienne 163 de Gao), on 2 August 1961, and Air Base 162 at Bamako (
base aérienne 162 de Bamako), on 5 September 1961.
Moussa Traoré improved relations with
France and other Western countries after the coup, but Mali remained dependent on the Soviet Union for the arming and training of the
Malian Armed Forces. Approximately 50 Soviet
military advisors provided armour, artillery and parachute training to Mali's military, and trained all of Mali's pilots. The Soviets also improved the Malian Air Force base in
Mopti, and occasionally used Malian airfields to stage supply flights for groups it supported in
Angola. The Malian army largely collapsed during the war against Tuareg separatists and Islamist rebels in early 2012. In a span of less than fourth months at the start of 2012, the Malian army was defeated by the rebels who seized more than 60% of the former Malian territory, taking all camps and position of the army, capturing and killing hundreds of Malian soldiers, while hundred others deserted or defected. Following the rebel advance, a group of soldiers from the Kati camp near Bamako staged a coup on 22 March 2012 which overthrew Malian president
Amadou Toumani Touré. After the junta seized power, they successfully repelled a counter coup on 30 April by loyalists from the red berets elite units. The Malian military was rebuilt by French forces, and is now capable of conducting counter terrorism operations. In February 2020, the army stated that up to 200 Malian troops arrived in Kidal, a Northern city. This was the first time the army was deployed in this area because of the Tuareg Separatists rebels that chased out the army since 2014. On 1 November 2019, the
IS-GS militants killed at least 50 soldiers in the
2019 Indelimane attack in the
Ménaka Region of Mali. Since the 2020 coup, the military received equipment from Turkish forces. On 7 September 2023, at least 154 civilians and fifteen Malian soldiers were killed when al-Qaeda linked
JNIM militants
simultaneously attacked a Malian military camp at
Bamba and the civilian boat
Tombouctou on the
Niger River near the village of
Banikane, Gourma-Rharous. In July 2024,
CSP-DPA rebels and JNIM militants killed dozens of Russian mercenaries and Malian government forces during the
Battle of Tinzaouaten. On 17 September 2024, JNIM militants
attacked several locations across
Bamako, the capital of Mali, including police and military installations, killing at least 77 people and injuring 255 others. ==Army==