The military power in Mali is teetering. The junta has indeed lost one of its key figures on Saturday in a series of unprecedented attacks. Malian Defense Minister Sadio Camara was killed in these coordinated attacks by jihadists from the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM, allied to al-Qaeda) and the Touareg separatist rebellion of the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA). Who was this general, instrumental in the cooperation between Mali and Russia? 20 Minutes provides an overview.
What role did Sadio Camara play in the junta?
Sadio Camara was one of the main figures in the regime in Bamako. He was appointed Minister of Defense in October 2020, two months after the junta seized power in a coup. Later, he became a corps general and was promoted to the rank of Minister of State in February. “During the coup, he played an important role” and “was among potential candidates” vying for the leadership of the junta, recalls an anonymous regional analyst. In 2021, Colonel Sadio Camara, already Minister of Defense, also played an important role when tensions first arose between Mali and France, which had long been present in the region for anti-jihadist efforts before being forced to leave.
Sadio Camara graduated at the top of his class from the inter-armed military school in Koulikoro, a highly regarded institution from which many of Mali’s officers emerge. He then commanded the second unit of Ménaka, was director general of the Kati military high school, and was chief of staff for operations of the National Guard.
What were his ties to Moscow?
Sadio Camara, who was trained in Russia just before the coup, played a key role in bringing his country closer to Moscow. As the Russian mercenaries from the Africa Corps (a Russian paramilitary organization controlled by Moscow, present in Mali for anti-jihadist efforts) withdraw from Kidal, a strategic northern city taken by the FLA, one might wonder if his death influenced this decision, points out the same analyst. A “discreet” but “very powerful” man, he was a proponent of a strong military approach to eradicating jihadism, without negotiation with armed groups and “with Russian soldiers,” according to a researcher associated with the International Academy for Counter-Terrorism. Shortly after the junta took power, Sadio Camara began regularly announcing the receipt of military equipment provided by Russia: helicopters, weapons, ammunition. “He is the member of the junta who has made the most trips to Russia,” adds the researcher.
Last year, he met with his Russian counterpart, Andrei Belousov, after an official visit to the Kremlin by the junta leader, Assimi Goïta, who has not been seen or heard from since the events on Saturday. Sadio Camara was also “very involved with the Russians regarding the AES,” the confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States, which includes Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger and asserts a common policy.
The expansion of Russian activities in Mali had led to him being economically sanctioned, along with two other officers, by the U.S. government in July 2023. The sanctions were lifted in February.
What were the circumstances of his death?
On Saturday morning, simultaneous attacks were carried out in several major cities across the country: Kidal, Gao (north), Ségou (center), and in the town of Kati, on the outskirts of the capital, which houses the homes of some high-ranking junta officials.
The residence of General Sadio Camara, 47, a native of Kati, was directly targeted by “a vehicle rigged with explosives driven by a suicide bomber,” the government stated on Sunday evening. The minister “engaged in exchanges with the assailants, some of whom he managed to neutralize,” according to the same source, specifying that he was “injured and then taken to the hospital, where he unfortunately succumbed.” The regime then declared a “two-day national mourning starting Monday” across the territory.
