Every war the Malian Air Force has fought
In the Agacher Strip war of 1985 the Malian and Burkinabé air forces never met in the air, and the account rests on one study summarised by Wikipedia. Since 2021 the record is contested: the UN human rights office found that more than 500 people were killed at Moura in 2022, and Human Rights Watch documented drone strikes that killed civilians at Konokassi and Tinzaouaten in 2024; the government disputes those findings and says it struck armed fighters. Losses claimed by the separatists and JNIM are given as their claims, and the Akinci shot down by Algeria in 2025 with each government’s account of where it fell. Where a consolidated sortie or loss figure exists in the official record it is given here; where accounts disagree, the range is shown and the disagreement named. Blank cells are blank because no figure could be verified, not because the fighting was small.
From the first Tuareg rebellion of 1963 to the offensive of 2026.
| Conflict | Years | Against | Main aircraft | Sorties | Aircraft lost | |
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| The first Tuareg rebellionAlfellagaMalian Army with requisitioned civil aircraft | 1963–1964 | Tuareg rebels | Antonov An-2, Let L-200A Morava | |||
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Borrowed civil aircraft flew liaison and support for the army; this is where the official history starts Malian military flying. Mali had no air arm when a rebellion broke out in the north in 1963. According to the armed forces’ own history, General Abdoulaye Soumaré asked for aviation support and the government requisitioned two An-2s and an L-200A Morava from the national airline, Air Mali. That improvised flight is the root of the service: military aviation was formally created on 1 March 1966. What the aircraft did in detail, and how many sorties they flew, is not recorded in the sources checked. Outcome The rebellion was put down by 1964. The end date of the rebellion is from general histories, not from the air force source; the aircraft’s operations are not documented.
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| The Agacher Strip warthe Christmas war with Burkina FasoMalian Air Force | 1985 | Burkina Faso | MiG-21, Helicopters | |||
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Border patrols from 20 December, then bombing raids on Burkinabé towns from 25 December. The dispute over the Agacher Strip had already produced a brief armed conflict in 1974. On 20 December 1985 Malian MiG-21s and helicopters began patrolling the border, and at dawn on Christmas Day Mali attacked. At about 08:45 two Malian MiG-21s bombed Djibo, Ouahigouya and Nassoumbo; on 28 December Malian sorties struck Djibo, Ouahigouya, Tougan and Dédougou. Burkina Faso had a single MiG-17 and hit back at Sikasso on 26 December. The two air forces never met in the air. The account rests on Tom Cooper’s ACIG study as summarised by Wikipedia; neither government has published an air war record. It remains Mali’s only interstate air war. Outcome Ceasefire at the end of December 1985; the International Court of Justice divided the strip on 22 December 1986. Civilian casualties of the Malian raids are not given here because no figure could be corroborated. Whether aircraft flew in the 1974 clash was not confirmed.
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| The 2012 rebellion and the loss of the northNorthern Mali conflictMalian Air Force | 2012–2013 | MNLA, Ansar Dine, AQIM and MUJAO | Mi-24D, MiG-21 (grounded) | |||
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A handful of helicopters, partly crewed by Ukrainian contract pilots, supported garrisons until the northern bases fell. The air force entered 2012 almost without fighters: English Wikipedia says only one MiG-21MF and one MiG-21UM were airworthy in January, and both were soon grounded. The work fell to a few Mi-24 helicopters, some crewed by Ukrainian contract pilots; by mid-March one had broken down and the other two were being kept to protect the south. The MNLA took Tessalit and its airport on 11 March. On 22 March soldiers led by Captain Amadou Sanogo overthrew President Amadou Toumani Touré, and in the confusion Kidal fell on 30 March, Gao on 31 March and Timbuktu on 1 April. When jihadist groups advanced south in January 2013, it was French Mirage 2000Ds and Gazelle helicopters of Operation Serval, not Malian aircraft, that stopped them. Outcome Kidal, Gao and Timbuktu fell between 30 March and 1 April 2012; the north was retaken from January 2013 under French Operation Serval. Malian air operations of 2012 are thinly documented; figures here are Wikipedia’s.
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| The counter-insurgency with Russian supportMali War since the 2021 coupMalian Air Force | 2021–present | JNIM, Islamic State Sahel Province and CSP-DPA / FLA | L-39C, Su-25, Mi-24P/Mi-35Mand 3 more | |||
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Close air support, helicopter assault and armed-drone strikes against JNIM, Islamic State Sahel and the northern separatist coalition. After the coups of August 2020 and May 2021 the military government rebuilt the air force with Russian and Turkish equipment and Russian contractors. Its record includes the operation at Moura from 27 March 2022: the UN human rights office found that more than 500 people were killed, the vast majority summarily executed, while a military helicopter fired on people and four others landed troops, with armed foreign personnel operating alongside Malian forces. The government said 203 ‘terrorists’ were killed and denies wrongdoing. Human Rights Watch documented drone strikes that killed seven civilians at a wedding and burial at Konokassi on 16–17 February 2024 and seven, five of them children, at Tinzaouaten on 25 August 2024; the army said it had struck armed fighters and did not answer HRW. Since June 2025 the Russian Africa Corps flies its own Su-24s; HRW attributes a strike that killed eight civilians at Kyrnia on 15 June 2026 to it. Outcome Ongoing. Casualty figures are each source’s: the UN and HRW findings are disputed by the Malian government; strike counts are not published.
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| The battle of TinzaouatenTinzaouaten 2024Malian Air Force | 2024 | CSP-DPA and JNIM (disputed) | Mi-24, Drones | 1 | ||
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Helicopter support to a FAMa and Wagner column, then drone and air strikes on the town on 31 July and 25 August. On 25–27 July 2024 a Malian and Wagner column was ambushed near Tinzaouaten by the separatist CSP-DPA, with JNIM also claiming a part that the CSP disputes. The army acknowledged ‘significant losses’ without figures; Russian sources put Wagner’s dead between about 20 and more than 80. A Mi-24 was lost. On 31 July Malian and Burkinabé aircraft struck the area; the CSP said a Burkinabé drone killed more than 50 gold miners, a claim not independently verified. On 25 August drones struck the town again: the separatists said 21 civilians including 11 children were killed; Human Rights Watch documented seven civilians killed, five of them children aged 14 to 16, while the armed forces said the same day that they had hit fighters, vehicles and equipment. Outcome Defeat for the FAMa and Wagner column; Tinzaouaten stayed in rebel hands. All casualty figures are claims of the party named or HRW findings; none are confirmed by the Malian government.
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| The JNIM and FLA offensive of 2026the April 2026 attacksMalian Air Force | 2026 | JNIM and Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) | Mi-24P/Mi-35M, Bayraktar TB2, L-39C | |||
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Defence of Bamako and the bases; helicopter and drone support to besieged garrisons such as Anefis. At about 05:20 on 25 April 2026 JNIM and the FLA attacked Kati, Bamako and its airport, the Sénou base, Gao, Sévaré and Kidal at once. The defence minister, General Sadio Camara, was killed when a car bomb exploded at his residence in Kati. The government called the situation ‘of extreme gravity’ but ‘under control’; the Africa Corps called it a prevented coup and claimed more than 1,000 insurgents killed. Russian troops then withdrew from Kidal, Aguelhok, Tessalit and other northern posts, and JNIM said it took a base near Tessalit on 1 May. General Goïta named himself defence minister on 4 May. In July the siege of Anefis cost the air force a Mi-24 on 5 July, and JNIM shot down another near Kouakourou on 19 July. Outcome Ongoing. Kidal and several northern posts were abandoned; Bamako and the main bases held. Casualty claims are each side’s; no official Malian loss figures were published.
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Nothing matches that search.
Every figure, checked
- FAMa: État-Major de l’Armée de l’AirOfficial history: 1963 northern rebellion and requisitioned Air Mali An-2s and L-200A Morava; military aviation created 1 March 1966; tactical air grouping November 1968; air force created by Ordonnance 76-99 CML of 6 February 1976; 1999 legal texts; missions; organisation by air regions, bases and detachments.
- defenceWeb: Algeria shoots down Malian UAV, escalating tensions (2 May 2025)Akinci shot down near Tinzaouaten; Algeria says it entered Algerian airspace, Mali says it came down about 10 km inside Mali; ambassadors recalled and airspace closed.
- defenceWeb (ACLED analysis): Is the Malian military losing against JNIM? (21 July 2026)Mi-24 shot down by JNIM near Kouakourou on 19 July 2026, crew killed, the second helicopter shot down in two weeks; Anefis fighting 4–9 July 2026.
- Military Africa: Tuareg rebels and Salafi-jihadists continue to degrade Mali’s air capabilities (19 July 2026)Mi-24P downed near Anefis on 5 July 2026; at least 13 modern manned and unmanned aircraft destroyed since 2023 (four Mi-24P, one Akinci, more than four transport helicopters, at least two Su-25).
- Human Rights Watch: Mali – Atrocities by the Army and Wagner Group (12 December 2024)Drone strike on Tinzaouaten on 25 August 2024 killed seven civilians including five children (HRW finding); army said it targeted armed group fighters; separatists claimed 21 civilians killed; government did not answer HRW.
- Human Rights Watch: World Report 2025 – MaliDrone strikes on a wedding and a burial at Konokassi, Ségou region, 16–17 February 2024; Tinzaouaten 25 August 2024; ECOWAS exit announced January 2024.
- Human Rights Watch: Mali – Russia’s ‘Africa Corps’ airstrikes kill civilians (31 July 2026)Su-24 strike on Kyrnia, Mopti region, 15 June 2026, eight civilians killed including three children (HRW finding); attributed to the Africa Corps; no public record of Su-24 transfer to Mali; no Russian reply.
- Human Rights Watch: Mali country pageIndex of 2024–2026 reports including Africa Corps strikes (July 2026) and massacre (August 2026).
- OHCHR: Malian troops, foreign military personnel killed over 500 people during military operation in Moura (12 May 2023)UN finding: more than 500 killed at Moura from 27 March 2022; one military helicopter fired on people while four others landed troops; armed foreign personnel operated alongside Malian forces; authorities deny wrongdoing.
Figures verified 2026-10-01. Back to the Malian Air Force.