Mali's junta detains its own soldiers for plotting to destabilise the state

Mali's Security Minister Gen Daoud Aly Mohammedine said "fringe elements of the Malian armed security forces" were detained for seeking to "destabilise the institutions of the republic." The purge comes as Islamist fighters impose a partial blockade on Bamako and total blockades elsewhere, including Ségou. Colonel Assimi Goïta, who seized power in 2021 and later named himself defence minister, has dissolved all political parties and extended his rule to at least 2030.