Mali’s Defence Minister General Sadio Camara has been killed amid coordinated attacks on military sites across the West African country, according to Al Jazeera.
His house in the garrison town of Kati came under attack on Saturday.
Explosions and sustained gunfire were reported in Mali's capital, Bamako, as armed groups launched co-ordinated attacks across the country into Sunday.
Mali's military said on Saturday evening that efforts to repel the attacks were under way, and some militants had already fled.
Fighting has also been reported around Kati, home to a major military base outside the capital, as well as in Gao, and the central cities of Sevare and Mopti. On Sunday, gunfire resumed in Kidal in the north, according to reports.
Mali has for years been plagued by insurgencies by groups affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, as well as a separatist movement in the country's north.
Reports suggest the assault by the separatist Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) - which seeks a breakaway ethnic Tuareg state - was primarily focused on northern cities, while the jihadist group Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) had staged simultaneous attacks on multiple locations across the country.
One analyst described it as the largest jihadist attack in years.
"We had been working on this operation for a long time, in a well-planned manner, and in fact, in alliance with [JNIM]," Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, spokesman for the FLA, told the BBC.
"It is difficult to find any solution without their participation, and there was co-ordination."
Meanwhile, JNIM confirmed in a statement that the attacks had been part of a joint operation with the FLA.
Mali's military said it was fighting what it described as "terrorist groups", which had been "routed" with "several hundred" killed.
It is understood that a number of Russian mercenaries, working for the Malian government, are involved in the fighting.
commonspace.eu with Al Jazeera (Doha), BBC (London), and agencies
photo: Mali’s Defence Minister General Sadio Camara (archive picture)
