Defense Minister Sadio Camara, 47, one of the pillars of the junta, was killed in Kati, a junta stronghold near the capital, Bamako, during these attacks which targeted several large cities.
The head of the junta in Mali, Assimi Goïta, has strengthened his powers and now combines his functions as president with those of Minister of Defense, replacing Sadio Camara, killed on April 25 during unprecedented attacks by jihadists and independentist rebels Tuareg against the largely weakened military regime.
Mali faces a critical security situation and is prey to uncertainty after these large-scale coordinated attacks carried out by jihadists from the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (JNIM, allied to Al-Qaeda) and the rebellion of the Liberation Front of Azawad (FLA), predominantly Tuareg, against strategic positions of the junta in power in Bamako. Several towns and localities in northern Mali are now under the control of jihadists and their FLA allies.
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Assimi Goïta will be assisted in this new function by General Oumar Diarra
Defense Minister Sadio Camara, 47, one of the pillars of the junta, was killed in Kati, a junta stronghold near the capital, Bamako, during these attacks which targeted several large cities. Faced with this situation, President Goïta decided to strengthen his control over the army. Now he “performs the functions of Minister of Defense and Veterans Affairs”according to a decree read Monday on ORTM by a presenter, nine days after the death of General Camara.
Assimi Goïta will be assisted in this new function by the former chief of general staff of the armed forces, General Oumar Diarra, appointed “Delegate Minister to the Minister of Defense and Veterans Affairs”according to a separate decree also read on the ORTM. Former head of the army under the regime of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita (2013-2020), General Diarra was arrested at the same time as several senior army officers during the coup of state having overthrown President Keïta in August 2020. He was then appointed chief of staff of the armed forces in September 2020 by the military who came to power a few weeks earlier.
The jihadists also continued their offensive on the ground. They took control of the Tessalit military camp (north) on Friday, after its evacuation by the Malian army and its Russian allies, according to local, security and independence sources. Tessalit, located near the Algerian border, represents a strategic camp due to its geographical position. On April 30, the JNIM jihadists called for a large “common front” pour “end the junta”with a view to“a peaceful and inclusive transition”.
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