Africa

Mali President Resigns after Mutiny

Published

5 years ago

August 19, 2020

Eric

Mali’s President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita announced his resignation on live television in the early hours of Wednesday morning following a military coup.

“I’ve decided to leave my post,” he said, clad in traditional clothing and a medical mask to protect against the coronavirus.

The president and Prime Minister Boubou Cisse were arrested by the military after a mutiny on Tuesday, following months of street protests in the volatile West African state, which is also battling an Islamic insurgency.

“The president and his prime minister have been arrested.

“They are being taken to Kati military camp,” army officer Sidi Gakou told dpa earlier Tuesday.

The United Nations, European Union, African Union Commission, and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have condemned the military’s actions.

The UN has called for the “immediate release” of the president, while the EU said it “condemns the coup attempt under way in Mali and rejects any anti-constitutional change.”

“This can in no way be a response to the deep socio-political crisis that has hit Mali for several months,” the EU said in a statement.

Later, ECOWAS said that it decided to close its member states’ borders with Mali, suspend the country from its decision-making bodies “with immediate effect,” and temporarily interrupt financial flows between its other 14 members and Bamako.

Mali has been struggling to maintain stability since tens of thousands of opposition supporters accused Mr Keita of gross intimidation and vote-buying during a parliamentary election in April, which gave his administration a firm majority.

Soldiers started to mutiny early Tuesday in the garrison town of Kati, 15 kilometres north-west of Bamako. Gunfire was heard in the capital.

A photographer told dpa there had been several thousand protesters on the streets, with people firing into the air in celebration.

Before its leaders were detained, the government had released a statement calling for calm, admitting that soldiers might have legitimate frustrations and saying they were prepared to engage in a dialogue.

The U.S., Australian, and Swedish embassies in Mali warned of possible unrest in the volatile West African country, urging their citizens to stay at home.

France, a former colonial power in Mali, condemned the mutiny.

“France has learned with concern of the mutiny that has started today in Kati, Mali.

“It condemns this serious event in the strongest terms,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The coup came after several weeks of political tensions and repeated anti-government protests during which talks between the government and the opposition, which is led by popular cleric Mahmoud Dicko, a former ally of Keita, failed.

A coup in Mali in 2012 was carried out by soldiers from the same barracks.

Political instability in Mali is seen as a dangerous development for the entire Sahel region, which already faces ongoing threats from numerous terrorist and separatist groups.

(dpa/NAN)

Africa

Nigerian Soldiers Still Trapped in Burkina Faso – Foreign Affairs Minister

Published

1 month ago

December 12, 2025

Eric

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, says the Nigerian soldiers who were on an aircraft that made a forced landing in Burkina Faso are still in trapped in that country.

Tuggar made this disclosure during a press briefing with his Beninese counterpart, Olushegun Bakari, on Thursday at the ECOWAS Commission in Abuja.

The Confederation of Sahel States (AES), on Monday, accused an aircraft carrying 11 Nigerian soldiers of violating Burkinabe airspace.

AES is a breakaway West African regional union made up of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger Republic.

The Mali junta leader, Assimi Goita, described the landing as an unfriendly act carried out in defiance of international law.

The AES said it authorised its member states to neutralise any aircraft violating its airspace.

The development came at the same time Nigerian troops carried out air strikes in Benin to help foil a coup.

Commenting on the situation, the Nigerian Air Force, NAF, said the C-130 aircraft was on a ferry mission to Portugal.

Africa

Leader of Failed Benin Republic Coup Reportedly Seeks Refuge in Togo

Published

1 month ago

December 11, 2025

Eric

The leader of a failed coup in Benin Republic, Colonel Tigri Pascal, has reportedly sought refuge in neighbouring Togo.

Soldiers briefly took control of Benin’s State television station on Sunday morning and claimed they had deposed President Patrice Talon, though Benin’s armed forces, backed by Nigerian firepower and French intelligence and logistical support, thwarted the attempt.

The soldiers identified Colonel Pascal as the coup leader, while his whereabouts had previously been unknown.

However, a senior Benin government official told Reuters on Wednesday that the soldier is in Togo.

The government, however, called for Pascal’s immediate extradition.

Togo’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A Benin government statement on Monday said coup plotters attempted to seize Talon, and came close enough for the president to witness violent clashes first-hand.

The statement added that they also managed to kidnap two senior military officials who were released on Monday morning.

A Benin Republic government’s spokesperson, Wilfried Leandre Houngbedji, said on Sunday that 14 people had been arrested in connection with the coup attempt.

Reuters

Africa

Sudanese Military Plane Crashes, All Crew Members Feared Killed

Published

1 month ago

December 10, 2025

Eric

A Sudanese military aircraft crashed while attempting to land in the east of the country, killing all the crew, military officials said Wednesday, in the latest plane crash in the war-torn African nation.

The Ilyushin Il-76 cargo plane experienced technical failure while attempting to land Tuesday in the Osman Digna Air Base in the coastal city of Port Sudan, two officials said.

They said the crew were killed but didn’t disclose how many personnel were on board. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to brief the media.

Among the dead was military pilot Omran Mirghani, according to his uncle, prominent Sudanese journalist Osman Mirghani, who mourned his nephew’s death on social media.

The military didn’t comment on the crash.

Plane crashes are not uncommon in Sudan, which has a poor aviation safety record. In February, at least 46 people, including women and children, were killed when a military aircraft crashed in a densely populated area in Omdurman, the sister city of the capital, Khartoum.

The crash came as the miliary has suffered multiple setbacks in its war against a notorious paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The miliary lost el-Fasher, its last stronghold in the sprawling region of Darfur in October, and earlier this week was forced to pull out from the country’s largest oil processing facility in the central region of Kordofan.

APnews