Mali has opened investigations into several soldiers and an exiled politician after a wave of coordinated attacks that authorities say exposed possible internal complicity in one of the country's most serious security crises in years.
The military prosecutor in Bamako said there was solid evidence that some military personnel helped plan, coordinate and carry out attacks last week across the country. The statement, read on state television, said the probe covered serving officers, recently dismissed officers and at least one soldier who was killed during the assaults.
According to DW, the attacks were carried out on April 25 by a rebel alliance that brought together Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, the al-Qaida-linked armed group known as JNIM, and Tuareg separatists. The attacks hit more than half a dozen locations at nearly the same time, including sites near the capital, Bamako, and killed several people, among them Defense Minister Sadio Camara and members of his family.
The prosecutor said the first arrests had already been made and that authorities were actively looking for other perpetrators, co-perpetrators and accomplices. The statement also named Malian politicians as being under suspicion, including Oumar Mariko, a prominent figure living in exile. Mariko has long denied working with jihadist groups.
The probe lands amid a broader deterioration in Mali's security environment. The April 25 offensive was described by DW as the largest assault in more than a decade, part of an effort by the rebel alliance to destabilize the military government that took power during the pandemic. That government now faces pressure not only from insurgent violence but also from allegations that elements inside the security apparatus may have helped the attackers.
The latest developments also showed the continuing momentum of the insurgency. On the same day as the investigation announcement, Tuareg rebels said they had seized a strategic military camp in Tessalit after the withdrawal of Malian troops and Russian mercenary allies. The camp sits near an airport and close to the Algerian border, giving it strategic value in the north. Malian authorities had not confirmed the withdrawal at the time of the report.
The situation in Mali has been unstable for years. The current conflict began with a Tuareg rebellion in 2012 and was rapidly overtaken by jihadist groups, helping spread violence across the wider Sahel. Since then, the military has staged coups in 2012, 2020 and 2021, with Colonel Assimi Goita eventually becoming the country's dominant figure.
The investigation adds a new political dimension to a crisis already defined by battlefield losses and insurgent pressure on the capital. It suggests the authorities are now trying to determine whether the attacks were enabled from inside the armed forces as well as from outside it, a question that could shape both the military's credibility and the government's response in the weeks ahead.
