Mali’s interim leader ‘safe and sound’ after assassination attempt

Mr Goita drew his weapon after an attacker tried to stab him while he was performing Eid al-Adha prayer

Mali’s interim president Assimi Goita moments after the failed assassination attempt (AFP via Getty Images)

Mali’s interim president Assimi Goita’s office said he was “safe and sound” after a man tried to assassinate him as he was performing Eid al-Adha prayers on Tuesday morning at the Grand Mosque in Bamako.

Officials and witnesses said the man approached Mr Goita, who was surrounded by his bodyguards and tried to stab him. “The attacker was immediately overpowered by security. Investigations are ongoing,” the presidency said. He is now understood to have been arrested.

An official at the presidency later said Mr Goita was “safe and sound.”

Following the attack, Mr Goita was taken to the Kati military camp, outside the Bamako, “where security has been reinforced,” the official said.

The attack happened during the al-Adha prayer, Arabic for “sacrifice,” the second Islamic official holiday every year.

The Minister of Religious Affairs, Mamadou Kone, who was a few steps away from the president, told AFP that “a man immediately tried to kill the president of the transition with a knife in the Great Mosque of Bamako.”

But “he was well controlled before committing his crime,” he added.

“It was after the prayer and the sermon of the imam when the imam should normally go to immolate his sheep, that the young man tried to stab Assimi (Goita) from behind, but it was another person who got injured,” Latus Tourè, manager of the great mosque confirmed to AFP.

The president and his security detail are understood to have drawn their weapons, according to reports.

Mali is mired in political uncertainty. Mr Goita, a 38-year-old special forces colonel, took power in June after condemning a government reshuffle that prompted him to arrest President Bah Ndaw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane, who were appointed in September last year to restore civilian rule after a military coup.

Mr Goita, who instigated last year’s coup and held the vice president’s office under Mr Ndaw, accused the former president of contravening the transitional charter and said elections would go ahead as planned.

French President Emmanuel Macron warned that his country would withdraw troops fighting militant groups from Mali if political instability leads to greater Islamist radicalisation.

On Tuesday, it was confirmed that a French Mirage 2000 jet fighter crashed in northern Mali due to a technical problem, the French military said.

The two pilots involved were safe, armed forces spokesman Colonel Pascal Ianni said. The crash occurred in the Hombori region in the sub-Saharan country.

Additional reporting by agencies