Jihadist fighters coordinating with Tuareg rebels killed the junta's defense minister, General Sadio Camara, with a car bomb near the capital Bamako, his family and military sources confirmed on Sunday. New violence erupted on Sunday in the key Malian city of Kidal between Tuareg rebels, backed by jihadists, and government forces supported by Russian mercenaries, a day after rebels launched coordinated attacks across the restive Sahel state. The Tuareg rebels of the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) announced on Sunday an agreement for Russia to withdraw from Kidal. "An agreement has been reached allowing the (Malian) army and its (Russian) allies from the African Corps to leave Camp 2, where they have been barricaded since yesterday," a Tuareg official told AFP. A resident of Kidal told AFP: "We saw a military convoy leaving, but we don't know the details of what's happening... Fighters from armed movements have now taken over the streets." The African Corps, an organization under the direct control of the Russian Defense Ministry, has largely taken over the African operations of the Wagner Group following the death of its founder Yevgeny Prigozhin in 2023. This group assists the Malian junta in fighting jihadists in the West African state. Kidal, a Tuareg stronghold, was recaptured by the Malian army in November 2023 with the support of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, ending over a decade of rebel control. The FLA also claims to have seized positions in the northern Gao region. "The attackers' goal was not to capture and control cities, but to carry out coordinated actions to at least take Kidal, which is a fairly powerful symbol," a security source told AFP on Sunday. Jihadist fighters killed the Malian junta's defense minister, General Sadio Camara, with a car bomb placed in front of his residence near the capital Bamako, his family and government and military sources said on Sunday. The attack occurred on Saturday when jihadist and rebel groups launched coordinated attacks across the African state, including at the junta's stronghold in Kati near the capital. Camara and other junta leaders live in Kati. A relative, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the minister and at least three members of his family were killed by a car bomb left by a group linked to Al-Qaeda. Fighting also broke out on Sunday in Kati, a stronghold of Mali's ruling junta near the capital Bamako, residents said. One resident said fighting had resumed "everywhere" in the garrison town and that "jihadists are on the hill" above Kati. Another resident said planes were flying over the town. Mali has been ravaged by conflict and jihadist violence for over a decade, but Saturday's attacks were the worst since 2020, when the junta seized power.