Malian authorities say they are investigating several soldiers accused of aiding the coordinated jihadi and separatist attacks that swept parts of the country last week.
The assault on April 25, described by analysts as the largest in more than a decade, was carried out by a rebel alliance that includes Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), which is linked to al-Qaida, and Tuareg separatist fighters. The attackers struck nearly simultaneously at more than half a dozen sites, including locations near the capital, Bamako, in operations that analysts say aimed to unseat Mali’s military government. Several people were killed in the attacks, among them Defense Minister Sadio Camara and members of his family.
A statement from the public prosecutor at Bamako’s Military Court said investigators have “solid evidence” that some members of the armed forces were complicit in planning, coordinating and carrying out the strikes. Officials named a mix of serving and recently dismissed personnel: three active-duty soldiers, an army veteran and a dismissed soldier who was killed during one of the assaults. Authorities said arrests have begun and that searches are under way for other perpetrators, co-perpetrators and accomplices.
The prosecutor’s office also accused certain political figures of involvement, singling out Oumar Mariko, a prominent politician who is currently living in exile; Mariko has denied collaborating with jihadist groups.
On the battlefield, Tuareg rebels reported seizing a strategic military camp in the northern town of Tessalit after Malian troops and their Russian mercenary partners withdrew. Tessalit, near an airport and the Algerian border, fell after the junta lost control of Kidal in last weekend’s attacks, authorities said. Mali’s government had not confirmed whether the army pulled out of the Tessalit base.
Rebel forces have in recent days cut most road access to Bamako and issued calls for a popular uprising against the junta and for implementation of Sharia law.
Background: The current conflict traces back to a 2012 Tuareg rebellion in northern Mali, which—fueled in part by weapons flowing out of Libya—evolved into a broader jihadist insurgency. The violence spread instability across the Sahel, affecting Burkina Faso and Niger. Frustration with successive civilian governments’ inability to contain the insurgency led to military coups in Mali in 2012, 2020 and 2021, and Colonel Assimi Goïta is the leader of the current junta.