Mali's president and junta leader, Assimi Goita, has assumed the duties of defense minister following the death of General Sadio Camara. Camara was killed on April 25 in a suicide bombing at his residence in Kati, a garrison town near the capital, Bamako. Former army chief of staff General Oumar Diarra will assist Goita as deputy defense minister in what state television described as a strategic decision coming in a sensitive security context.
The leadership change follows sweeping, coordinated attacks by the al-Qaida-linked group Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) and the Tuareg-led separatist Azawad Liberation Front. These attacks, among the largest in the country in over a decade, targeted Bamako, Kati, and several other cities, resulting in the seizure of various military bases and key towns.
Mali has been ruled by a military junta since a 2020 coup. While the junta promised to restore security and shifted its partnership to Russia—forcing out France and a U.N. peacekeeping mission—the security situation has worsened with record numbers of attacks and civilian deaths. Authorities are currently investigating soldiers suspected of collaborating with militants and separatists to launch the recent strikes.
Tensions have escalated further with a wave of arrests and the reported abduction of Mountaga Tall, a former minister and junta critic, from his Bamako home by armed men. Additionally, JNIM fighters have imposed a blockade around the capital. While most roads linking Bamako to the rest of the country remain largely passable, transport companies report that the route between the capital and the western city of Kayes remains blocked.