[3] Al-Qaeda aligned groups have waged an insurgency in central and northeastern Mali since 2012, and gaining steam in 2017 with the formation of Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin.

[14][15] JNIM, in their statement claiming responsibility, stated that the attack left several hundred people dead or wounded and caused "heavy losses to Wagner's mercenaries.

[12][21] Criticism of the attacks within Mali was limited due to severe restrictions on freedom of expression by the ruling military junta, with the exception of a few media outlets such as the Senegalese newspaper Nouvel Horizon, which wrote that it was "time to apportion blame at all levels".

[22] On 24 September, Mali's military leader Assimi Goïta held a meeting with the country's defence establishment to review security arrangements and "adjust strategy".

[23] Jean-Herve Jezequel, Sahel project director at the International Crisis Group, said that one possible reason for the attack could be that "the jihadists are trying to send a message to the Malian authorities that they can hit them anywhere and therefore that the big cities must also be protected".

[5] In neighboring Burkina Faso, the government banned the Voice of America from broadcasting in the country for three months starting in October 2024, citing a journalist calling the attack in Bamako "courageous" among other reasons.