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

There was no word from the junta leader General Assimi Goita, who has not been seen since the attacks began at dawn on Saturday.

The offensive, synchronised by Tuareg rebels of the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) coalition and the jihadist Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), targeted several areas in the vast arid country.

Analysts said the coordinated attacks were the most serious challenge to the country’s rulers since the March 2012 offensive that was repelled by the intervention of French forces, who have since left.

Government troops were still fighting in some parts of the country but the loss of Defence Minister Sadio Camara on Saturday represented a serious blow to the administration.

Camara, his second wife and two of his grandchildren died after a car bomb attack on his home in the junta stronghold of Kati, outside Bamako, his family and an official said.

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

There was no word from the junta leader General Assimi Goita, who has not been seen since the attacks began at dawn on Saturday.

The offensive, synchronised by Tuareg rebels of the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) coalition and the jihadist Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), targeted several areas in the vast arid country.

Analysts said the coordinated attacks were the most serious challenge to the country’s rulers since the March 2012 offensive that was repelled by the intervention of French forces, who have since left.

Government troops were still fighting in some parts of the country but the loss of Defence Minister Sadio Camara on Saturday represented a serious blow to the administration.

Camara, his second wife and two of his grandchildren died after a car bomb attack on his home in the junta stronghold of Kati, outside Bamako, his family and an official said.