Mali’s military government has detained at least 50 soldiers, including a prominent general, over an alleged conspiracy to overthrow the ruling junta, security sources confirmed Sunday.
The arrests mark the latest turmoil in the coup-prone nation that has endured successive military takeovers since 2020.
Among those detained was General Abass Dembele, former governor of the volatile Mopti region, seized from his Kati residence near Bamako without explanation according to associates.
A National Transition Council member described the plot as involving exclusively military personnel aiming to topple Colonel Assimi Goïta’s regime, which itself assumed power through coups in 2020 and 2021.
The crackdown exposes deepening fractures within Mali’s armed forces as the junta battles Islamist insurgencies while facing growing international isolation.
Security analysts note the arrests follow months of “grumblings within the ranks” over the junta’s failure to curb jihadist violence despite severing ties with French counterterrorism forces and aligning with Russian mercenaries.
Since 2012, Mali has struggled with overlapping security crises as al-Qaeda and Islamic State affiliates wage relentless attacks across the Sahel.
The junta has increasingly suppressed dissent, postponing promised democratic transitions while extending military rule indefinitely.
