BAMAKO - Mali's military rulers faced a security crisis Sunday after coordinated nationwide attacks by jihadist fighters and separatist rebels this weekend killed the defense minister and reportedly left a key northern town in rebel hands.

Coordinated attacks signified a major escalation of insurgent violence in a region of West Africa where military leaders had seized power and warmed to Moscow in recent years.

Witnesses report clashes in the centre and north, in what has been described as the largest jihadist attack in years.

Residents in cities across Mali reported gunfire and blasts on Saturday morning, suggesting a possible coordinated attack by armed groups.

Suspected militant assault kills Mali defence minister, targets key cities and raises fears over worsening security crisis nationwide

Al Qaeda’s Group for Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) and its allies in the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) conducted a massive, widespread offensive in Mali, from Bamako to Kidal, on Saturday. Several cities fell under the complete or partial control of the militant alliance,

Mali was struck on Saturday by one of the biggest coordinated attacks on its army in the capital, Bamako, and several other cities and towns in an assault that also challenged Mali’s security partner,

The regional al Qaeda affiliate, known as JNIM, cooperated with a Tuareg-dominated rebel group to carry out simultaneous attacks.

Mali experienced its largest coordinated attack in over a decade as militants and rebels launched assaults across multiple locations, challenging the military-led government and highlighting ongoing extremist violence in the region.

Ethnic Tuareg fighters say they are in control of Kidal following a weekend of nationwide attacks, alongside Islamist groups