BAMAKO – Mali’s military chief Assimi Goita emerged publicly for the first time since devastating weekend attacks, meeting with Russia’s ambassador on Tuesday according to his office’s social media announcement.
The Tuesday afternoon post marked Goita’s first visible activity following coordinated strikes by insurgent forces on Saturday that targeted multiple locations across the West African nation.
The weekend offensive saw al Qaeda’s West African branch team up with a Tuareg separatist organization to launch simultaneous assaults on Mali’s primary military installation and locations surrounding Bamako’s airport. The attackers also successfully expelled Russian military personnel from the northern city of Kidal, where they had been stationed to support government troops.
The violence claimed the life of Mali’s defense minister Sadio Camara during the assault, while Goita remained out of public view until Tuesday’s diplomatic meeting.
Military analysts noted the attacks revealed an extraordinary level of coordination between disparate militant organizations with varying objectives, allowing them to execute strikes across the expansive nation and penetrate the military government’s core defenses.
Despite the scope of the offensive, Mali’s military leadership maintains they have regained control of the security situation.
