Junta leader Assimi Goita target of April attacks, Malian army says

Last month's coordinated attacks against Mali targeted the country's junta leader Assimi Goita, an army spokesperson said on Wednesday.

Reviewing the events at a press conference, the spokesperson condemned the attack as a destabilisation operation and said the insurgents deployed two suicide car bombs intended for top officials.

"This sinister and meticulously orchestrated plan aimed to assassinate our leaders," Commander Djibrila Maiga, Deputy Director of Public Relations for the Armed Forces told reporters.

"This is why the terrorists had several suicide vehicles at their disposal, the second of which was intended for the residence of the Head of State, Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, General Assimi Goita."

Ouagadougou bans TV5Monde

In neighbouring Burkina Faso, an ally of Bamako and fellow member of the Alliance of Sahel States, news coverage of the attacks has led to a ban on French TV channel TV5 Monde.

The country’s High Council for Communication accused the station of disinformation and the glorification of terrorism in its reporting on Burkina Faso and Mali.

Some Burkinabe agree that the media is undermining the morale of soldiers on the front lines in the fight against terrorism.

"We can't allow those who encourage terrorism to broadcast their programs in Burkina Faso," tour guide Flore Guigma told Africanews. "They will discourage our soldiers who are fighting for peace in Burkina Faso."

Communications specialist Serge Théophile Bancé, agrees: "Personally, I no longer watch these channels. There's a certain condescension in their way of handling information. It's as if we lack the necessary awareness to know what is right or wrong for us.”

TV5 Monde and other international media were temporarily suspended in 2024 after airing news stories about a Human Rights Watch report on alleged abuses by the Burkinabe army against civilian populations.