Founder and emir of JNIM
Appears in 1 story
Underground; directs JNIM's strategic decisions
Eleven days after Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) rebels and al-Qaeda affiliate Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) struck five Malian cities simultaneously on April 25, 2026, President Assimi Goïta is governing without either a functioning intelligence service or an independent defence ministry. On May 4 he resolved the latter vacancy by assuming the defence portfolio himself by presidential decree — naming Army Chief of Staff General Oumar Diarra as minister delegate — more than a week after the car-bomb assassination of predecessor Sadio Camara. Simultaneously, a military tribunal opened a criminal probe into the April 25 attacks and identified five suspects, including three active-duty soldiers, while also accusing exiled politician Oumar Mariko of involvement in the planning. In the days that followed, security forces abducted several critics and lawyers — including prominent Bamako lawyer Mountaga Tall, seized from his home by hooded men on May 2 — prompting Amnesty International to call for his immediate release and the UN human rights office to warn of 'gravely concerning' reports of extrajudicial killings by Malian security forces.
Updated May 6
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