Mali leader Goita takes defence post after minister killed

The leader of Mali’s military government, Assimi Goita, has taken on the role of defence minister following the killing of the previous minister in last week’s uprising by rebel groups.State television channel ORTM reported on Monday that Goita was taking on the post following the death of Sadio Camara in large-scale attacks by an Al-Qaeda-linked group working with Tuareg separatists.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3‘We saw terrible things’: Mali refugees tell of atrocities amid attackslist 2 of 3Mali’s Tuareg rebels say Russian fighters must withdraw from countrylist 3 of 3Video emerges of heavy firefight in Maliend of listThe report noted the presidential decree that Assimi Goita will remain president while also taking on the new roleGeneral Oumar Diarra, who was military chief of staff, has been appointed as delegate minister to the defence ministry.Car bomb blastDuring the assault on strongholds of the military government, more than a week ago, Camara was killed by a car bomb blast at his residence. The rebel armed groups were able to capture the key northern town of Kidal in the largest attack in the West African country in nearly 15 years.The fighting killed at least 23 people, with the United Nations children’s agency UNICEF reporting that civilians and children were among the dead and injured.Mali has been beset by security crises since at least 2012. Al-Qaeda-linked Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) controls large areas of rural territory, especially in the north and central regions, and has active cells around the capital. Similarly, the ISIL (ISIS) affiliate in Sahel Province (ISSP) controls areas in northeastern Menaka city.At the same time also in the north, armed Tuareg separatists of the Liberation Front for Azawad (FLA) group are fighting for an independent nation called Azawad. They are battling Mali’s military and allied Russian mercenaries who have been deployed since 2021.