Khadijah Shehu Abdulkareem
Malian authorities are investigating possible accomplices in what they allege is a foreign government-backed plot to destabilise the country, following the arrest of a French national suspected of working for French intelligence and several Malian soldiers. Security Minister General Daoud Aly Mohammedine announced the arrests in a televised statement, describing the suspects as “a small group of marginal members of the Malian armed forces” involved in criminal offences.
“Military personnel and civilians, with the help of foreign states, wanted to break up the rebuilding of Mali,” the minister said, without naming the countries involved. The arrests come amid heightened tensions between Mali and its former colonial ruler, France, after the ruling junta, led by President Assimi Goita, seized power in coups in 2020 and 2021 and pivoted toward stronger ties with Russia in the name of national sovereignty.
The junta also confirmed the detention of two senior officers — Generals Néma Sagara and Abbas Dembélé. Dembélé, a former commander in northern Mali and later governor of the central Mopti region, was dismissed from his post recently without official explanation. Authorities have not disclosed the specific charges against the generals.
Mali has been in crisis since 2012, grappling with insurgencies by groups linked to Al-Qaeda and Islamic State, as well as local criminal networks. The Malian army, supported by Russian allies, continues to battle these armed factions but faces persistent accusations of human rights abuses against civilians. The latest arrests highlight growing political tensions and the deepening rift between Bamako and Western powers.