Reorganisation at the top of the Malian Defence Ministry. 🇷🇺🇲🇱🏴
Following the assassination of Sadio Camara by terrorists, further changes were made in a complex security context with the aim of strengthening the coordination and leadership of military operations.
General Oumar Diarra has been appointed Deputy Minister for Defence, whilst President Assimi Goita has taken up the post of Minister of Defence and Veterans Affairs.
Meanwhile, the Africa Corps announced that it would remain in Mali and rejected JNIM’s demands for a complete withdrawal from the country.
All this is taking place against the backdrop of a regrouping of Russian and Malian forces in the centre and east of the country, carrying out new attacks against JNIM insurgents in particular.

Engels, Saratov region 🚀👀

The Captagon trade continues in Syria.
On 2 May, the Jordanian air force launched an attack on a Captagon facility in Shahba, controlled by the Druze militia coalition ‘National Guard’. Since May 2023, Jordan has periodically launched attacks against drug trafficking networks in southern Syria targeting its territory, which are still active with new (or old) actors from the civil war.

Meanwhile, Iraq has recently participated in several operations against Captagon, mainly through joint cooperation with the Syrian Transitional Government. The new Syrian authorities have managed to significantly reduce the production and illegal trade of Captagon in Syria by 2025. However, the production infrastructure and trafficking persist, suggesting a continuation of the drug trafficking practices of the previous political regime, with the new authorities reportedly systematically allowing the flow of Captagon from Lebanon to Jordan.
Suwayda is not the only area involved in smuggling. On 14 and 22 April 2026, the National Guard shot down balloons carrying Captagon tablets from Daraa. This suggests there is a conflict of interest between different factions over the control of drug trafficking in the region, where local actors—whether affiliated with the new government or independent—are attempting to rebuild the former narco-state.