Malian security personnel arrested dozens of soldiers who were planning to overthrow the ruling military junta in the capital city of Bamako.
Both current and former military personnel are among those arrested for plotting to carry out simultaneous activities intended to overthrow the present leadership.
Mali has been a military dictatorship since Colonel Assimi Goïta took power after a coup in August 2020, toppling President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta.
Goïta made himself the sole ruler after a second seizure of power in May 2021, resulting in political turmoil and the cooling of relations with the West.
The local authorities have neither issued a government statement nor provided any concrete information on the supposed conspiracy. The security agents are still probing to unveil more accomplices of the plot.
The arrests are made amid a tense atmosphere in the region where several coups have occurred recently in West Africa, including Niger, Burkina Faso, and Guinea. Mali is a member of the Alliance of Sahel States, which was established after these countries left ECOWAS.
It is still unknown when formal charges will be brought against the soldiers in custody. The development further deepens the political uncertainty in Mali as the country remains under military rule with no definite date for return to civilian governance.
