Generative AI is being deployed by multiple factions in Mali's ongoing conflict to amplify propaganda and obscure the origins of influence campaigns, according to a new report by the Timbuktu Institute, a Dakar-based think tank. The study describes Mali (a landlocked Sahelian nation gripped by jihadist, separatist, and criminal violence since 2012) as an "open-air laboratory" for AI-driven information warfare, with the most sophisticated operations linked to Russia's Africa Corps paramilitary group, which combines AI-generated content, fake accounts, and coordinated dissemination strategies. Lesser but notable use has also been observed among Tuareg separatist networks, where AI-generated characters on TikTok are presented as real people to humanise their cause, while the Al-Qaeda-affiliated armed group JNIM has so far made more limited use of the technology.