Four years ago this month, a group of Malian soldiers descended on a military base in Kati, close to the capital Bamako, arrested their most senior leaders, and seized weapons from the armoury.
Shortly after, they stormed Bamako in trucks, where they detained then-President Aboubakar Keita, as Malians jubilated in the streets. The August 18, 2020, coup d’etat came after weeks of protests against Keita who faced calls to resign, amid accusations that his government was corrupt and failed to clamp down on an armed rebellion in the country’s north waged by groups linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS). The new military government promised to tackle the fighters swiftly.
