Soldiers in Mali detained president Bah Ndaw and prime minister Moctar Ouane of the interim government on Monday.
According to the United Nations and the African Union, this arrest will cause more political chaos in the sub-Saharan African country just nine months after the military coup replaced the former leader of the country. Reports came on Monday night that the soldiers took the interim President Bah Ndaw and the country’s Prime Minister Moctar Ouane to the Kati military camp near the capital, Bamako. They reports said that Defence Minister Souleymane Doucouré was also detained. Late on Monday, Prime Minister Ouane told the people in AFP via phone call that soldiers “took him away”. The reported detention came just hours after one of the government reshuffles, that replaced two senior army officers that took part in last year coup. Once again Mali is unstable, nine months after President Ibrahim Boubakar Keïta was replaced by the military coup. Many Malians welcomed Keita’s departure – but were also angry as military dominates transitional government and the slow pace of promised reforms in the country.
The previous coup that happened in 2012 also lead to militant Islamist exploiting the instability to seize territory in northern Mali. French troops helped to regain territory, but the attacks continued.
