Elke oorlog die de Malinese luchtmacht heeft uitgevochten
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 | Jaren | Tegen | Hoofdvliegtuig | Uitvallen | Vliegtuig verloren | |
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| De eerste Toeareg-opstandAlfellagaMalian 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. Resultaat 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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| De Agacher Strip-oorlogthe Christmas war with Burkina FasoMalinese luchtmacht | 1985 | Burkina Faso | MiG-21, Helikopters | |||
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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. Resultaat 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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| De opstand van 2012 en het verlies van het noordenNorthern Mali conflictMalinese luchtmacht | 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. Resultaat 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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| De contra-insurgentiestrijd met Russische steunMali War since the 2021 coupMalinese luchtmacht | 2021–heden | JNIM, Islamic State Sahel Province and CSP-DPA / FLA | L-39C, Su-25, Mi-24P/Mi-35Men nog 3 | |||
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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. Resultaat Lopend. 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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| De slag bij TinzaouatenTinzaouaten 2024Malinese luchtmacht | 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. Resultaat 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 attacksMalinese luchtmacht | 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. Resultaat 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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Niets komt overeen met die zoekopdracht.
Elk cijfer, gecontroleerd
- FAMa: Etat-Major de l'Armée de l'AirOfficiële geschiedenis: Noordelijke opstand in 1963 en inbeslagname van An-2's en L-200A Morava's door Air Mali; militaire luchtvaart opgericht op 1 maart 1966; tactische luchtmachtgroepering in november 1968; luchtmacht opgericht bij Ordonnance 76-99 CML van 6 februari 1976; wettelijke teksten uit 1999; missies; organisatie per luchtregio, bases en detachementen.
- defenceWeb: Algerije schiet Malinese drone neer, waardoor de spanningen oplopen (2 mei 2025)Akinci neergeschoten nabij Tinzaouaten; Algerije zegt dat het toestel het Algerijnse luchtruim is binnengedrongen, Mali zegt dat het ongeveer 10 km binnen Mali is neergestort; ambassadeurs teruggeroepen en het luchtruim gesloten.
- defenceWeb (ACLED-analyse): Verliest het Malinese leger terrein tegen JNIM? (21 juli 2026)Een Mi-24 werd op 19 juli 2026 neergeschoten door JNIM nabij Kouakourou; de bemanning kwam om het leven. Dit was de tweede helikopter die in twee weken tijd werd neergehaald. Anefis vocht van 4 tot 9 juli 2026.
- Militair Afrika: Toeareg-rebellen en Salafistische jihadisten blijven de luchtmachtcapaciteiten van Mali ondermijnen (19 juli 2026)Een Mi-24P werd op 5 juli 2026 neergehaald nabij Anefis; sinds 2023 zijn minstens 13 moderne bemande en onbemande vliegtuigen vernietigd (vier Mi-24P's, één Akinci, meer dan vier transporthelikopters en minstens twee Su-25's).
- Human Rights Watch: Mali – Gruwelijkheden begaan door het leger en de Wagner-groep (12 december 2024)Bij een droneaanval op Tinzaouaten op 25 augustus 2024 kwamen zeven burgers om het leven, onder wie vijf kinderen (volgens Human Rights Watch); het leger verklaarde dat het zich richtte op strijders van gewapende groeperingen; separatisten claimden 21 burgerslachtoffers; de regering heeft Human Rights Watch niet beantwoord.
- Mensenrechtenwatch: Wereldrapport 2025 – MaliDroneaanvallen op een bruiloft en een begrafenis in Konokassi, regio Ségou, 16-17 februari 2024; Tinzaouaten, 25 augustus 2024; aankondiging van de exit uit ECOWAS in januari 2024.
- Human Rights Watch: Mali – Luchtaanvallen van het Russische 'Afrika Korps' doden burgers (31 juli 2026)Aanval met een Su-24 op Kyrnia, in de regio Mopti, op 15 juni 2026, waarbij acht burgers omkwamen, onder wie drie kinderen (volgens Human Rights Watch); toegeschreven aan het Afrika Korps; geen openbare gegevens over de overdracht van Su-24's aan Mali; geen reactie van Rusland.
- Human Rights Watch: pagina over MaliIndex van rapporten uit 2024-2026, inclusief aanvallen van het Africa Corps (juli 2026) en het bloedbad (augustus 2026).
- OHCHR: Malinese troepen en buitenlands militair personeel hebben meer dan 500 mensen gedood tijdens een militaire operatie in Moura (12 mei 2023)VN-bevinding: meer dan 500 mensen gedood in Moura vanaf 27 maart 2022; één militaire helikopter opende het vuur op mensen terwijl vier andere troepen afzetten; gewapend buitenlands personeel opereerde samen met Malinese troepen; de autoriteiten ontkennen elke vorm van wangedrag.
Cijfers geverifieerd op 1 oktober 2026. Back to the Malian Air Force.