Malian soldiers undergo weapons training at Camp GeckoThe military leaders behind the suspected coup in Mali– a group who identified themselves as the National Committee for the Salvation of People (CNSP) — have taken over the government.
This was even as the embattled President, who was earlier arrested along with the Prime Minister, announced his resignation to avoid bloodbath.
Addressing the nation today, August 19, the military which had not yet named the leader of the country, promised a political transition, elections within a “reasonable time.”
The new government has also announced a national coffew.
And President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who announced his immediate resignation on state television late night of August 18, hours after he and the Prime Minister were reportedly arrested by mutinous soldiers, said that he had little choice but to stand down to avoid bloodshed, and that the country’s national assembly and government would now be dissolved.
“For seven years I have with great joy and happiness, tried to put this country back on its feet,” Keita said.
“If today some people from the armed forces have decided to end it by their intervention, do I have a choice?
“I should submit to it because I don’t want any blood to be shed.”
The coup had sparked international condemnation and are likely to further destabilize the West African nation, following months of anti-government mass protests and a rising insurgency from Islamist militants.
