Malian rebel groups have been relentlessly posting on Facebook ever since they captured theMalian city of Kidalon April 26. The videos show the fighters both separatists from the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) and jihadists from the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) posing in front of captured or destroyedmilitaryvehicles.

Some of the vehicles once belonged to theAfrica Corpsthe Russian paramilitary group that took over from Wagner mercenaries while others belong to the Malian armed forces.

However, one image in particular posted by the rebel groups is particularly interesting. It shows a mobile ground control station for drones used by the Malian Army to control the northern part of the country.

An unprecedented haul for the rebels

In one of the videos, a fighter points the camera towards a sand-coloured container, protected by wire mesh, sitting on the back of a truck in the Kidal military base. When he enters the container, he films the interior: filled with three screens, racks of electronic equipment and joysticks.

Its a Ground Control Station (or GCS), a mobile control station where operators fly militarydrones. The drone models used by the Malian Armed Forces the TB2 and the Akinci are Turkish-made. They are capable of conducting surveillance and reconnaissance, as well as dropping guided bombs. Theyve been used in strikes on civilian populations, like in the village ofAmasrakadin March 2024.

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The positions of the screens and joysticks filmed in the container correspond to the models that appear on the website ofBaykar, the Turkish company that supplies the Malian army with military drones.

The ground control station filmed on April 27, 2026, on the Kidal military base is for operating TB2 drones. You can tell by the position of the screens and joysticks.

This same ground control centre was filmed by the Office of Radio and Television ofMali(ORTM) in 2022, during areporton the Malian Armed Forces use of Turkish TB2 drones.

This report from the Office of Radio and Television of Mali (ORTM), posted online in 2022, shows a Malian soldier in a TB2 ground control station.

According to Baykar, the container is anACE IIIshelter, a type of container specially built for operations that meetsNATOstandards. The container is like a Faraday cage no electromagnetic signals penetrate the interior.

The video also shows the presence of a number of antennae, which resemble those seen in a photo shared by thePolish armyto announce the acquisition of TB2 drones.

These photos published in October 2022 by the Polish Defence Ministry show control stations for TB2 drones.

While it is hard to determine the exact role that these antennas play in drone operations, the online investigatorPermareported that they are used to relay signals. The antennas appear in the catalogue of the Turkish companyDenge Airport Equipment.

These videos filmed at the Kidal base on April 27, 2026 (below) seem to show the model sold by the Turkish company Denge Airport Equipment (above).

While the rebel groups may have captured the drone ground control centre, no images have been posted showing them in possession of TB2 drones. Local sources reported that the drone ground control station was targeted in an air strike, but it is impossible to establish the level of damage incurred.

This article has been translated fromthe original in Frenchby Brenna Daldorph.

Originally published on France24