Mali is investigating several soldiers suspected of aiding coordinated attacks by jihadi and separatist fighters across the country last week, authorities said Friday.
The rebel alliance — including JNIM, linked to al-Qaida, and Tuareg separatists — launched what analysts called its largest assault in more than a decade on April 25, aiming to overthrow Mali’s military government that came to power during the pandemic.
Nearly simultaneous strikes in more than half a dozen locations, including areas near the capital Bamako, left several dead, among them Defense Minister Sadio Camara and members of his family.
What do we know?
The public prosecutor at Bamako’s Military Court said there is “solid evidence” that some military personnel were complicit in the attacks, naming both serving and recently dismissed officers. According to the prosecutor’s statement broadcast on state television, those implicated helped with the planning, coordination and execution of the operations.
Those identified include three active-duty soldiers, an army veteran and a dismissed soldier who was killed during one of the assaults. The prosecutor said initial arrests have been made and that authorities are actively searching for other perpetrators, co-perpetrators and accomplices.
The statement also accused certain Malian politicians of involvement, including Oumar Mariko, a prominent figure currently in exile; Mariko has long denied any collaboration with jihadist groups.
What’s the latest on the conflict?
Tuareg rebels said Friday they had seized a strategic military camp in the northern town of Tessalit following the withdrawal of Malian forces and their Russian mercenary partners. Tessalit lies close to an airport and the Algerian border. The capture comes after the junta lost control of the major northern city of Kidal during last weekend’s attacks. Malian authorities had not confirmed whether the army had withdrawn from the Tessalit base.
In recent days the rebels have cut most road access to Bamako and called for a popular uprising against the junta and a shift to Sharia law.
Background
The conflict dates to 2012 when a Tuareg rebellion in the north — bolstered by weapons flowing from Libya — morphed into a wider jihadist insurgency. The upheaval triggered a broader crisis across the Sahel, spreading violence and instability into neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger.
Frustration with successive civilian governments’ inability to contain the insurgency led Mali’s military to stage coups in 2012, 2020 and 2021. Colonel Assimi Goïta emerged as the leader of the current junta.
Edited by: Louis Oelofse