In addition to weapons, the offensive carried out by the rebels against the junta in Mali is also found in the words. The jihadists of the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM) encouraged, Thursday, April 30, a union to overthrow the military in power.
“We call on all sincere patriots, without distinction of any kind, to stand up and unite our forces in a common front” including “political parties, the national armed forces, religious authorities, traditional leaders and all components of Malian society,” the group declares in French on its Az-Zallaqa platform. “It is imperative to put an end” to the junta, for “a peaceful and inclusive transition” for a “new Mali” of which “one of the essential priorities [sera] the establishment of Sharia”, Islamic law, he adds
The GSIM statement was published five days after the coordinated and unprecedented attacks that this jihadist organization, allied with Al-Qaeda, carried out with rebels from the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) – a predominantly Tuareg rebellion – against strategic positions of the military, in power since 2020, in several cities, including the capital, Bamako, and its neighbor and stronghold of the junta, Kati, as well as Kidal, Gao, both in the north of the country, and Sévaré, in the center.
Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers In Mali, jihadists want to suffocate Bamako
National tribute to the minister killed during the attacks
The statement also comes on the same day that GSIM began imposing a road blockade in Bamako, after announcing it on Tuesday. Air traffic to neighboring countries remains maintained.
This blockade is in place in the capital where, in the morning, a national tribute was paid to the Minister of Defense Sadio Camara, in the presence of the head of the Malian junta, Assimi Goïta, and in front of thousands of people, before his burial in Kati in the afternoon. General Camara was killed on Saturday in Kati by a “vehicle bomb driven by a suicide bomber” that targeted his residence, according to the Malian government.
Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers In Mali, jihadists shake up the junta by carrying out an unprecedented attack
The tribute paid to him, at the military engineering battalion located in the center of Bamako, took place under very high security, noted Agence France-Presse (AFP). With closed faces, thousands of people, parents, relatives, friends, official figures from Mali and officials from neighboring countries participated in the ceremony. Posters bearing the image of Sadio Camara, 47, were put up all over the brigade compound.
Mr. Camara was a key figure in the junta and considered the architect of the rapprochement in recent years with Russia. The funeral took place in the presence of the defense ministers of Niger and Burkina Faso, also led by juntas, and which form, with Mali, the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).
In combat gear and wearing dark glasses, Assimi Goïta paid tribute to General Camara by bowing in front of his coffin, covered with the green-yellow-red flag of Mali and on which his military cap was placed.
“He helped define Mali’s defense priorities. It represented unwavering loyalty to the general interest. Despite the weight of responsibilities, he never deviated from his missions,” testified the Prime Minister, Abdoulaye Maïga, referring to Mr. Camara. “You have fallen as a martyr. You left as a hero,” he said. The testimonies were followed by a military parade in tribute to General Camara who was posthumously elevated to the rank of army general.
Russia rejects call to withdraw from country
His death is a hard blow for the junta, more weakened than ever, which finds itself in a very difficult situation, while the strategic town of Kidal, in the north of the country, is now under the control of armed groups who seem to continue to advance in the North.
Stay informed
Follow us on WhatsApp
Receive the essential African news on WhatsApp with the “Monde Afrique” channel
Join
Newsletter
“The World Africa”
Every Saturday, find a week of news and debates, from the editorial staff of “Monde Afrique”
Register
This death, the large-scale attacks and the loss of Kidal also cast doubt on the junta’s abilities to face threats from armed groups and undermine its rhetoric, which until now affirmed that its strategy of rupture, its new partnerships with foreigners and its increased military effort had made it possible to reverse the trend against Islamist fighters.
Mali faces a critical security situation and is prey to uncertainty and excitement after the coordinated and simultaneous attacks by these armed groups across its territory, which left at least 23 civilian and military dead, according to a hospital source.
Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers Mali: France’s embarrassment in the face of the crisis
On Tuesday, Mr. Goïta affirmed that the situation was now “under control”, while recognizing a moment of “extreme seriousness”. “The situation is far from being under control,” retorted FLA spokesperson Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane on Wednesday in an interview with AFP, affirming that the military regime “will fall, sooner or later.”
Moscow, for its part, affirmed on Thursday that its forces would remain in Mali, thus rejecting the rebels’ call for a Russian withdrawal from the country.
Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers Mali: Russia, failing ally of a junta threatened by the jihadist offensive
Originally published at Almouwatin.com
