On Monday, the military junta that rules Mali, in power after two coups in less than a year and has yet to organize democratic elections, announced it had stopped a coup against them. Many details were not given in this regard: the junta claims that the coup attempt last Wednesday took place with the support of a Western government whose name it did not name.
The announcement, and particularly the claims of foreign interference, must be placed in the context of the Malian military government’s growing isolation within the region, also due to deteriorating relations with the West and particularly with France.
Among other things, Mali recently announced the end of its military cooperation with the French army to combat jihadism in the Sahel (an expected announcement that formalized processes have already been underway for some time) and also announced on Monday its withdrawal from The from the European Union supported group “G5 Sahel” again to fight jihadism in the region. However, now the Malian government has come very close to the Russian one, and the presence of mercenaries from the Wagner group on the territory has increased.