Mali arrests 20 soldiers over alleged coup plot

By : AFP

Date: 10 August 2025 3:35pm WAT

(FILES) In this file photo taken on September 22, 2020 Colonel Assimi Goita (C), President of CNSP (National Committee for the Salvation of People) addresses to the press during the ceremony of the 60th anniversary of Mali's independence in Bamako, one day after announcing that the transitional presidency would be assigned to a retired colonel, Bah Ndaw, 70 years, ephemeral Minister of Defence in 2014. - Malian officers upset with a government reshuffle have detained the president and prime minister at an army camp outside the capital, triggering broad international condemnation and demands for their immediate release. President Bah Ndaw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane lead an interim government that was installed under the threat of regional sanctions following a putsch in August, and the detentions on May 24, 2021 raised fears of a second coup. Briefly reached by phone before the line cut, Prime Minister Ouane told AFP that soldiers affiliated with interim Vice President Colonel Assimi Goita "came to get him". (Photo by MICHELE CATTANI / AFP)

Mali has arrested around 20 soldiers suspected of wishing to overthrow the junta, which itself took power in the west African country in a coup, sources told AFP on Sunday.

“Since three days ago, there have been arrests linked to an attempt to destabilise the institutions. There have been at least around 20 arrests,” a Malian security source told AFP.

A separate source within the army confirmed an “attempt at destabilisation”, adding: “We have gone ahead with the necessary arrests”.

Among those arrested was General Abass Dembele, a former governor of the central Mopti region and a respected military officer.

“Soldiers came early this morning (Sunday) to arrest General Abass Dembele in Kati,” on the outskirts of the capital Bamako, a figure close to the officer said.

“They have not told him why he was arrested.”

Since 2012 Mali has been wracked with crises on various fronts, with militants linked to the Al-Qaeda or Islamic State groups carrying out violent attacks across the Sahel nation.

Criminal and sectarian violence are likewise rife, while the economy is in dire straits.