Soldiers in Bamako, the capital city of Mali, reportedly detained the president and prime minister of the country on Tuesday following months of anger arising from disputed parliamentary elections.
Video from the North African nation appeared to show soldiers surrounding the vehicle of 75-year-old President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. Moussa Faki Mahamat, chairman of the African Union Commission, condemned the actions of soldiers who rallied at a base in the garrison town of Kati, 15 miles outside of Bamako.
“I strongly condemn the arrest of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, the Prime Minister and other members of the Malian Government and call for their immediate release,” Mahamat wrote.
1/3:Je condamne énergiquement l’arrestation du President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, le Premier Ministre et autres membres du Gouvernement maliens et appelle à leur libération immédiate. #Mali
— Moussa Faki Mahamat (@AUC_MoussaFaki) August 18, 2020
Prime Minister Boubou Cisse and several other heads of states were also reportedly detained by military forces as thousands of people spilled into the country’s streets to celebrate the forced ouster of Malian leaders. Cisse called for dialogue in a last-minute plea on his Facebook account early Tuesday morning.
“The government calls for reason and a patriotic sense and asks for the use of arms to be stopped,” Cisse wrote. “There are no problems that cannot be solved in dialogue.”
Opposition leaders rallied in Bamako over the weekend after years of economic turmoil and sectarian violence that spread into the neighboring countries of Niger and Burkina Faso.
The United Nations Security Council announced that it will hold a special session on Wednesday to discuss the situation in Mali.
