Mali’s military says it has broken a rebel blockade around a strategic army base in the north as the junta battles a renewed offensive by separatists and al-Qaida-linked militants

Mali’s battle for Anefis has become a test of Russia’s grip on the Sahel, as rebels encircle an army base and down a military helicopter.

Tuareg separatists from the Azawad Liberation Front and their jihadist allies attacked a convoy of Russian soldiers and Malian troops Thursday as they were en route to reinforce a…