The President of Mali, Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, has resigned, following reports of a coup attempt in that country.
On Tuesday, Keïta and other senior government officials were taken hostage by mutinying soldiers. Keïta later announced his resignation and dissolved the government.
The country, which is also dealing with a jihadist insurgency, has been in crisis for some time, and there have been popular protests since June calling for Keïta’s resignation. Nouhoum Togo, a spokesman for the movement behind the protests, M5-RFP coalition, said it supported the mutiny and that it was a ‘popular insurrection’ rather than a coup.
Mali’s former coloniser, France, as well as the African Union, United Nations, and the Economic Community of West African States, all denounced the mutiny, calling for the troops to return to their barracks and for Keïta to be released.
Keïta has been president since 2013. He was re-elected in 2018.
[Image: Wikimedia Commons]