Mali’s junta leader and the country’s president has assumed the duties of defense minister, authorities said Monday, after the incumbent was killed in sweeping, coordinated attacks by separatist and jihadi forces that stunned the West African nation.
The announcement comes after Defense Minister Gen. Sadio Camara was killed on April 25, in a suicide bombing that targeted his home in Kati, a garrison town near the capital, Bamako.
Along with Bamako, Kati was one of several cities and towns attacked by militants from the al-Qaida-linked group Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, or JNIM, and rebels from the Azawad Liberation Front, a Tuareg-led separatist group, in one of the biggest coordinated attacks in the country in over a decade.
Mali has been ruled by a military junta that took power in a 2020 coup, promising to restore security amid a surge of extremist attacks. Since seizing the country, the junta turned to Russia as its new security partner, forcing traditional allies like France and a UN peacekeeping mission to leave.
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Mali’s Junta Leader Takes Over Defense Ministry After the Minister Was Killed in Militant Attacks
04/05/2026
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Trabajamos hombro a hombro con las víctimas para obtener el reconocimiento y la reparación de las violaciones masivas de derechos humanos, hacer que los responsables rindan cuentas, reformar y construir instituciones democráticas y prevenir la recurrencia de la violencia o la represión.