Malian army roots out alleged anti-junta plotters

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Mali's junta has carried out arrests to quash an alleged plot to overthrow the government within the army's ranks, sources told AFP, but the circumstances of the detentions remain unexplained.

The west African nation's junta, which itself came to power in back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021, has made 55 arrests, mainly among the National Guard, the military branch from which Defence Minister General Sadio Camara hails.

The military-backed government has yet to officially comment on the crackdown, which comes as the army is locked in fighting with jihadists and separatists.

The detainees

The arrests, which began last week and continued into early Monday, were carried out by the junta following what a security and military source told AFP were "destabilisation" attempts.

Colonel Sadio Camara, Minister of Defense and Veterans of Mali. (Photo by FANNY NOARO-KABRÉ / AFP)

While Defence Minister Camara, a key figure within the ruling junta, has not been questioned, observers say several of those apprehended are believed to be officers close to him.

According to a Malian security source, civilians could also be questioned soon.

Two generals were among those detained, including Abass Dembele, a former governor of the central Mopti region and a respected military officer.

General Nema Sagara, a rare woman to serve as brigadier general in the Malian Air Force, who also hailed from the centre of the country, was the other.

The situation

"The situation is a bit complex", one African diplomat stationed in Bamako told AFP. "The government's silence while arrests have been ongoing for at least four days deserves reflection."

"Are we dealing with preventive arrests? Were the arrested soldiers in the phase of destabilising the (junta), as we understand it?" the source asked.

Since 2012, Mali has been wracked with crises on various fronts, with militants linked to the Al-Qaeda or Islamic State groups carrying out violent attacks across the Sahel nation.

Mali's junta has ramped up repression of its critics in the face of the jihadist unrest.

For Malian sociologist Oumar Maiga, the spate of arrests within the army's ranks was "proof that the officers are struggling to control the situation".

Mali's strongman

When junta chief General Assimi Goita took power after deposing president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita in 2020, he insisted he was committed to the fight against jihadist violence and initially pledged a return to civilian rule.

But the military ultimately reneged on its promise to cede power to elected civilians by the deadline it had set.

The junta announced in May the dissolution of all political parties and organisations, as well as a ban on meetings.

Then in July, Goita extended his military rule for at least five more years without an election.

Pivot from West

Goita's rule has marked a turning point in Mali's relationship with the West. The country has broken ties with France and other former allies, pivoting towards Russia instead.

Mali and its junta-led neighbours Burkina Faso and Niger have teamed up to create their own confederation, the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), and have announced the creation of a 5,000-strong force for joint military operations.

Meanwhile, the Malian army and its Russian mercenary allies, which are tasked in particular with tracking down jihadists, are regularly accused of rights violations against civilians.