Shaken by attacks from jihadists and pro-independence militants on April 25, the military regime has never appeared so fragile. The capital is now under blockade.
The so-called "great patriotic mobilization" failed to draw a crowd on Saturday, May 9. There were empty seats in the 5,000 capacity stadium, which was hosting a rally organized by the junta led by General Assimi Goïta. The turnout was far lower than on January 14, 2022, when tens of thousands of Malians had packed around Place de l'Indépendance in the capital to show their support for the military in power.
The large-scale attacks carried out jointly by jihadists from the Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (Support Group for Islam and Muslims, JNIM) and pro-independence militants from the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) on April 25, in Bamako and several regions, failed to achieve their main goal: to overthrow the junta. But they severely destabilized the regime, plunging it into unprecedented turbulence since it seized power in a coup in 2020.
Although undeniably resilient, Goïta, a former special forces commander, has never seemed so vulnerable. On April 25, his authority was struck at its very heart, in his stronghold of the garrison town of Kati, some 20 kilometers from Bamako. His defense minister and junta number two, General Sadio Camara, was killed there in a car bomb attack on his residence.
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