BAMAKO, Mali -- Soldiers in Mali have today tuesday, taken up arms in the garrison town of Kati and detained senior military officers in an apparent mutiny, raising fears of a coup after several months of anti-government demonstrations calling for the president's resignation.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the latest turmoil to wrack Mali, but the unrest erupted at the very same military barracks where the country's 2012 coup originated.

In the nearby capital of Bamako, government workers fled their offices as armed men began detaining officials including the country's finance minister Abdoulaye Daffe.


“Officials are being arrested — it's total confusion,” said an officer at Mali's Ministry of Internal Security, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to journalists.

It was not immediately known where embattled President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was when the chaos erupted Tuesday. The president, who was democratically elected, has broad support from former colonizer France and other Western allies.

About 100 of the protesters who have called for Keita's ouster gathered midday in Bamako in a show of support for the mutinous soldiers.

The regional bloc known as ECOWAS that has been mediating Mali's current political crisis urged the soldiers to return immediately to their barracks in Kati, which is only 15 kilometers (less than 10 miles) from the presidential palace in the capital.

The United States said it was concerned about the situation unfolding in Mali, where French troops and U.N. peacekeepers have been working to stabilize the country amid the Islamic insurgency that took hold after the 2012 coup.

“The U.S. is opposed to all unconstitutional changes of government whether in the streets or by security forces,” tweeted J. Peter Pham, the State Department's special envoy for the Sahel region.


The dramatic developments Tuesday bore a troubling resemblance to the events leading up to the 2012 military coup, which ultimately unleashed years of chaos in Mali when the ensuing power vacuum allowed Islamic extremists to seize control of northern towns. Ultimately a French-led military operation ousted the jihadists but they merely regrouped and then expanded their reach during Keita's presidency.


Regional mediators have urged Keita to share power in a unity government but those overtures were swiftly rejected by opposition leaders who said they would not stop short of Keita's ouster.

The current president has faced growing criticism of how his government has handled the relentless Islamic insurgency engulfing the country once praised as a model of democracy in the region. The military faced a wave of particularly deadly attacks in the north last year, prompting the government to close its most vulnerable outposts as part of a reorganization aimed at stemming the losses.

The fact Mali's finance minister was among those targeted Tuesday bolsters the theory the mutiny was motivated by salary disputes, said Alexandre Raymakers, senior Africa analyst at Verisk Maplecroft.

“This remains a fast-moving situation, but initial indications point to the mutiny being within the national guard, with significant elements of the army still loyal to (Keita),” he said. “The mutiny is likely driven by a range of factors closely tied to the deteriorating military situation in central and northern Mali, rather than the ongoing political crisis. ”

https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/mali-soldiers-detain-senior-officers-apparent-mutiny-72439925

kolisokoloko



But why is it that every nation that has some element of Islam never knows peace.from Afghanistan, Pakistan,Syria,iraq,Palestine,Iran,Lebanon,Yemen,Somalia,Sudan,DRC, Nigeria


why why why!!!!

If it's coup that will save their country let them carry it out

All Nigerian soldiers especially some people from a region do is cry about how they are underfed / under-armed / maltreated by their ogas on twitter and facebook , if you want things to change


Fuurrkkkking do the needful , several ogas are buying house in dubai , you are in the bush with 14 bullets less than a full magazine but since you have android phone, the best thing you can do is twitter video ?


Ani ori gbogbo yin ti daru


smh

Lwol