Mali’s military leaders after shock

BBC:

It is hard to overstate the sense of shock reverberating across West Africa after attackers, in co-ordinated assaults, managed to enter Mali’s capital, Bamako, assassinate the defence minister and seize control of northern areas.

Residents in different cities across the country woke to gunfire and explosions on Saturday – attacks which an alliance of two groups – the separatist Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) and the al-Qaeda-linked JNIM group – said they were behind.

The scale of the offensive and the withdrawal of Malian and Russian forces from the northern city of Kidal, now under FLA control, have fuelled doubts about the strength of the military government led by Col Assimi Goïta, who came to power in a coup in August 2020.

It has taken Goïta several days to make an appearance since the offensive, prompting questions about the junta’s future, as well as the role of Russian forces deployed in Mali and neighbouring countries to tackle the security threat.