MALI LEADER SACKS ARMY CHIEFS AMID ESCALATING SECURITY CRISIS

Thu 23 October 2025:

Mali’s interim president fired three senior commanders in the armed forces, a cabinet meeting report showed on Wednesday.

President Assimi Goita replaced the deputy general chief of staff, the head of military security and the ground forces’ chief of staff, the document said.

AFP news agency reports that the three were fired “for poor results” on the battlefield, citing a senior officer.

Since 2012 Mali has been locked in a security crisis fuelled by violence from militants linked to Al Qaeda and the Daesh.

Goita rose to power following military takeovers in 2020 and 2021 on a promise to improve security.

Al Qaeda linked militants have recently appeared to be seeking to isolate the capital, Bamako, by increasing operations on the surrounding roads.

Since September they have blockaded fuel imports from neighbouring countries, disrupting daily life in the landlocked country.

Mali’s security crisis in 2025 has spiraled into a full-blown catastrophe, blending jihadist insurgency, military overreach, and regional fallout, displacing over 600,000 people and killing thousands amid economic collapse.

Under junta leader Assimi Goïta, who seized power in 2020 and postponed elections indefinitely, the country faces relentless attacks from Al-Qaeda-linked JNIM and ISIS affiliates like ISGS, who control swaths of the north and center.

Jihadists exploit ethnic tensions and state voids, launching sophisticated hits like the June Timbuktu airport assault (30+ soldiers killed) and October convoys in Kayes, torching fuel trucks to choke Bamako’s supplies.

Russian Wagner successors (Africa Corps) provide drones and mercenaries but fail to stem the tide, with violence up 60% from 2024—239 army operations killed 1,021 civilians by October.

6.4 million (28% of population) need aid; 402,000 displaced in July alone, with women/girls at 58%, as blockades in Gao, Mopti, and Menaka shutter health services (only 25% functional).

Abductions, like three Indians in Kayes, signal spillover risks. January’s ECOWAS exit with Burkina Faso and Niger formed the Alliance of Sahel States, isolating Mali and worsening cross-border jihadist flows.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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