First official appearance of Mali’s military council leader since the Saturday attacks
Mali’s ruling military council leader, Assimi Goïta, met with the Russian ambassador on Tuesday in his first official appearance since the coordinated attacks carried out by armed groups at the start of the weekend, according to a post published on the social media account of Goïta’s office.
A group calling itself “Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin,” an Al-Qaeda affiliate in West Africa, along with a Tuareg-dominated separatist movement, attacked Mali’s main military base and the area near Bamako airport on Saturday. They also expelled Russian forces supporting government troops from Kidal in the north.
These attacks sparked a struggle for territorial control across the vast desert of northern Mali, increasing the likelihood of significant gains for terrorist groups that have shown a growing willingness to launch attacks on neighboring countries and could eventually turn their attention to more distant regions, according to analysts.
Death of the Defense Minister
Mali’s Defense Minister, Sadio Camara, was killed in Saturday’s attacks. Goïta did not reappear until the social media post was published on Tuesday evening.
According to the post, Goïta and Russian Ambassador Igor Gromyko discussed “the current situation and the strong partnership between Bamako and Moscow.”
The post added that Gromyko “reaffirmed his country’s commitment to supporting Mali in the fight against international terrorism.”
According to the message published by his office on the platform X, Goïta also visited the hospital where those injured in Saturday’s attacks are being treated and offered his condolences to Camara’s family.
The scale of the attack, which targeted multiple sites across this West African country, demonstrated an unprecedented ability for groups with different objectives to cooperate and strike at the heart of the military government. Authorities stated that the situation was under control.
Bena Diarra, spokesperson for the Al-Qaeda-affiliated group “Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin,” boasted in a video message released Tuesday about the violence that occurred on Saturday, describing it as retaliation for drone strikes and other attacks carried out by Malian forces.
Diarra also threatened to impose a siege on Bamako, a city of four million inhabitants.
He stated in the message: “As of today, Bamako is closed from all directions.”
Russia said on Tuesday that rebel and separatist forces in Mali were regrouping after Moscow’s forces helped thwart a coup attempt on Saturday, preventing the rebels from seizing key facilities, including the presidential palace.
