Sawt Falasteen - Mali's embattled junta chief says situation 'under control'

Jihadists and Tuareg separatists are still positioned in the vast Sahelian country's north, three days after launching a stunning wave of attacks, in what junta chief Assimi Goita acknowledged was a situation "of extreme gravity".

Goita had made no public appearance or statement for three days, fuelling doubts about his ability to cling to power, but on Tuesday evening -- hours after jihadists threatened to blockade the capital Bamako -- he made a speech to the nation on state TV.

"As I am speaking to you, security arrangements have been reinforced. The situation is under control and clearing operations, search efforts, intelligence gathering and security measures are continuing," he said.

He urged the population to "stand up against division and national fracture", saying the west African country needed "clarity, not panic".

Earlier on Tuesday, his office released photos of him meeting wounded soldiers and civilians, as well as the ambassador of key ally Russia.

The photos were the first anyone had seen of Goita since the rebels launched a coordinated dawn offensive on Saturday against strategic junta positions, including areas around Bamako.

The attacks were the largest in nearly 15 years and saw two former foes -- Islamist insurgents and Tuareg separatists -- join forces against the military junta and its Russian paramilitary backers.

At least 23 people were killed in two days of fierce fighting, a hospital source told AFP on Tuesday.

Defence Minister Sadio Camara, seen as the mastermind behind the junta's pivot to Russia, was among those killed.

The clashes pitted the army against Tuareg separatists from the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) and their allies within the Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM).

At his meeting with Goita, Russian ambassador Igor Gromyko "reaffirmed his country's commitment to stand with Mali in the fight against terrorism", according to the Malian leader's office.

- Military withdrawal -

Russia's defence ministry earlier said the rebels, who have captured the key town of Kidal in the mostly desert north, were "regrouping".

It confirmed that mercenaries from Russia's Africa Corps, controlled by the government in Moscow and sent to back up the Malian junta, had been forced to withdraw from Kidal.

The assaults raise questions about the junta's ability to tackle the crisis, despite its insistence that its strategy, foreign partnerships and increased military efforts have stemmed the jihadist threat.

The notable absence of Goita, who seized power in 2020 pledging to combat the Islamist militants, had prompted uncertainty about the future of the country's military leaders.

In a sign of the high tensions, the army has withdrawn from several positions in the northern Gao region, local sources told AFP on Tuesday.

Gao is the army's second-largest military stronghold after Kati, a garrison town near Bamako which is home to several senior junta officials and was targeted in the weekend attacks.

- Diversion? -

On Tuesday, a JNIM spokesman released a video saying the militants were imposing a blockade "on all roads into Bamako".

Spokesman Bina Diarra said people who wanted to leave the capital would be allowed to do so "but entering it is forbidden until further notice".

The same applied to Kati, he said, adding: "Anyone breaching this blockade... will face the consequences."

AFP was not able to verify whether the blockade was in place on Tuesday evening.

The attacks near the centres of Malian power have been seen by some analysts as a diversion to seize Kidal in the vast, arid north.

This pro-independence stronghold was controlled by Tuareg rebel groups for years before being retaken in November 2023 in an army offensive, supported by Russian mercenaries from Africa Corps' predecessor, the Wagner Group.

The weekend attacks recall a crisis that rocked Mali in 2012, when Tuareg rebels joined forces with jihadists to capture strategic hubs in the north.

The alliance eventually unravelled when the groups turned on each other and the jihadists drove the Tuareg separatists out.

Although they have different goals, according to experts, they are now united against a common enemy -- the ruling junta and its Russian paramilitary backers.

Y.Zaher--SF-PST