Day: May 17, 2022

Mali’s military junta on Monday said it thwarted an attempted coup last week led by army officers and supported by an unnamed Western state.

The statement read on state television said a “small group of anti-progressive Malian officers and non-commissioned officers attempted a coup in the night of May 11 to 12, 2022.”

“These soldiers were supported by a Western state. The attempt was thwarted thanks to the vigilance and professionalism of the defense and security forces.”

The statement gave few details on what allegedly happened.

It mentioned arrests and said the detainees would be handed over to justice. Their identity and whereabouts were not revealed.

It added that checks have been strengthened around the capital, Bamako, and at Mali’s borders.

A military source speaking on condition of anonymity spoke of around 10 arrests and said others were underway.

The government statement said “all necessary means” were being mobilized for the investigation and to find accomplices.

No indication of the attempted coup that reportedly happened last week had surfaced until Monday evening.

Mali has undergone two military coups since August 2020, when the army ousted elected president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.

The West African state has been fighting a jihadist insurgency against groups affiliated with al-Qaida and the Islamic State group since 2012 in the north and center of the country.

The fighting has also spread to neighboring Niger and Burkina Faso.

The country’s military-dominated government has broken with traditional partner France and forged closer ties with Russia in its battle against the jihadists.

It had pledged to return power to civilians by February 2022 but has since extended the timetable, incurring regional sanctions.

Source: Voice of America

A colonel reputed to be close to Mali’s ruling junta has been arrested following what the authorities describe as an attempted coup, two sources said Tuesday.

The junta late Monday announced that last week it had thwarted a would-be putsch led by army officers and “supported by a Western state.”

The mysterious episode marks the latest bout of turbulence in the West African country, which has experienced two coups in less than two years.

An official at the defense ministry, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP: “Colonel (Amadou) Keita is among the arrested jihadists.”

Keita is not well-known publicly but is reputed to have been among army officers who seized power in August 2020, later strengthening their grip in a second coup in May the following year.

He is one of the 120 members of the National Transition Council (CNT) — a legislature appointed by the junta to pass laws pending a declared return to civilian rule.

Keita is also said to be close to the CNT’s president, Colonel Malick Diaw, who is one of the most influential figures in the junta led by strongman Colonel Assimi Goita.

“We have had no news of Colonel Amadou Keita since the 12th,” a close relative of his told AFP, also requesting anonymity.

“Two of his comrades have told us that he has been arrested.”

The relative gave no reasons for Keita’s disappearance.

According to the junta’s statement read on state television late Monday, the coup bid happened on the night of May 11.

Officers and junior officers were involved, and the attempt had the backing of a Western state, the communique said, without naming that country.

It gave no further details about what happened and did not put forward any evidence but said arrests had been made.

The military source told AFP on Tuesday that about 12 people had been detained.

One of the poorest and most volatile countries in the world, Mali is battling a decade-old jihadist revolt that began with a regional insurrection and spread to Niger and Burkina Faso.

Thousands of civilians and soldiers have died, and hundreds of thousands have fled their homes.

Anger at the government’s failure to roll back the threat led to protests in 2020, culminating in the ouster of the elected president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.

The country’s relationship with France — the former colonial power and its closest ally in the fight against the jihadists — last year went on a downward spiral.

French troops are pulling out of Mali after the junta wove close ties with Russia, bringing in military support that France says are Russian mercenaries.

Source: Voice of America