the chief of staff of the transitional president, among the four killed in an attack

First modification: 04/20/2023 – 21:54

Until then his identity was unknown. The chief of staff of Colonel Assimi Goïta, president of Mali’s military-dominated transition, is among four people killed in an attack near the Mauritanian border on Tuesday, according to a presidential note authenticated by AFP on Thursday.

The document shows that Oumar Traore, Colonel Goïta’s chief of staff, was in the delegation that was ambushed near the town of Nara., in a region devastated by jihadist attacks. The funerals will take place on Thursday in Kati, a garrison town near the capital, Bamako, according to the same source.

The note reveals the identity of the other three victims, a security guard, a contractor and a driver. It also gives the name of another driver who is missing.

The delegation “of the president’s social works” had come to prospect wells for the local population near the town of Nara, in the vicinity of the Wagadou forest, known for harboring jihadists.

The ambush of the official delegation on Tuesday – which had not been claimed – was revealed on Wednesday, but the names of the victims were unknown.

security deterioration

An administrative officer in the region told AFP that “the mission did not have an adequate security device.”

A local politician warned that the security situation in the area was deteriorating daily.

Mali has been ravaged by the spread of jihadism and violence of all kinds since the outbreak of rebel movements in the north of the country in 2012. Despite the presence of international forces, this violence has spread to the center of the country and to neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger. The phenomenon advances to the south.

The colonels in power have promised, under international pressure, to cede power to civilians by March 2024.

In March of this year, Goïta validated a draft Constitution that must be submitted to a referendum on a date yet to be determined, and asked political and civil society actors to explain what was at stake throughout the country.

Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla Maïga recently welcomed the authorities’ freedom of movement, which he said had been restored throughout the country. But he had been forced to abandon part of his visit to the north of the territory because of insecurity.

with AFP

This article was adapted from its original in French.