Malian authorities are investigating soldiers suspected of involvement in last week'scoordinated attackson army bases across the country by militants linked to al Qaeda and separatistTuaregrebels, a judicial official said.
The list of potential accomplices includes three active duty soldiers, a retired soldier and a soldier who had been "dismissed" and was killed in fighting near the country's main army base in Kati, 15 km outside the capital Bamako, said the statement from the prosecutor at the military tribunal inBamako, which was read on state television late on Friday.
"The first arrests have been successfully carried out, and all other perpetrators, co-perpetrators, and accomplices are actively being sought," said the statement, without specifying how many suspects had been identified and who specifically had been taken into custody.
The simultaneous attacks beginning on the morning of 25 April showed how fighters from different groups with different goals were able tostrike at the heartof the West African country's military government, which took power after coups in 2020 and 2021.
The defence minister was killed and Russian forces backing the government were forced out of the northern town ofKidal.
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The violence has set off fighting acrossMali's vast desert north, raising the prospect of significant gains by armed groups that have shown an increasing willingness to strike neighbouring countries and, analysts say, could eventually set their sights further afield.
The al Qaeda-linked insurgents, known as Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM),have also vowed to besiege Bamako, and on Friday security sources said the group had set up checkpoints around the city of four million.
Military leaderAssimi Goitasaid in a televised address on Tuesday that the situation wasunder control, and vowed to "neutralise" the insurgent groups behind the attacks.
Call to establish Sharia law
The Al Qaeda-linked insurgents have called onMalians to rise up against the military-led government and transition to Sharia law in a rare French-language statement.
"We call upon all sincere patriots, without exception, to rise up and unite," the group said in a statement issued late on Thursday and confirmed by the US-based SITE Intelligence Group.
JNIM, which usually issues written statements in Arabic, wrote in French, the official language inMalifor government and business.
It called for political parties, soldiers, religious authorities, traditional leaders and "all segments ofMalian society" to end the "dictatorship" of the government, which it described as a "terrorist junta."
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Mali's military leaders seized power in back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021.
JNIM has over the past year been on a drive for legitimacy through coercion and strategic engagement with local populations, and has sought to characterise the government as illegitimate.
"Overthrowing the junta is not enough. We must, together, prevent any chaotic vacuum that would plunge our nation into total collapse," the statement said.
It called for a "peaceful, responsible, and inclusive transition" and for the establishment of Sharia law.
JNIM, which threatened a total blockade on Bamako following the attacks, has established checkpoints on several major arteries leading to the city including from the north and south, three sources told Reuters on Friday.
(Reuters)
Originally published on RFI
