The junta that governs Mali said Thursday that it had foiled an attempted coup and arrested several individuals, including Malian military personnel and a French national it accused of organizing the plot.
Mali, a landlocked country in Western Africa, has typified the turmoil that has rocked countries across the Sahel for more than a decade, including Islamist insurgencies, political instability, military takeovers and a decline in their relationship with France, a former colonizer.
Among those arrested was a man the government identified as Yann Vezilier, a French citizen whom it accused of being a spy.
In a statement broadcast by state television on Thursday, Gen. Daoud Aly Mohammedine, Mali’s minister of security, accused Mr. Vezilier of working “on behalf of the French intelligence service, which mobilized political leaders, civil society actors and military personnel.”
The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to a request for comment or even confirm Mr. Vezilier’s nationality.
Several other civilians and Malian military officials were also arrested for “criminal offenses” related to a plot that General Mohammedine said began on Aug. 1. The general released scant other details about the nature or extent of the crimes.
Mali has been ruled by a military government since August 2020, when the military exploited widespread public anger over a disputed parliamentary election. A second coup followed just nine months later.
France maintained a contingent of troops in the country from 2013 until August 2022, when the junta expelled the forces in exchange for Russian mercenaries.
That coup set into action a chain of similar military takeovers across the region, with soldiers seizing power across a belt of countries nine times between 2020 and 2023.
Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger — all ruled by military governments — officially withdrew from the West African alliance known as ECOWAS in January after the bloc pressured them to restore civilian leadership.
Since Mali’s government came to power, human rights groups have accused it of cracking down on dissent and political opposition.
Eve Sampson is a reporter covering international news and a member of the 2024-25 Times Fellowship class, a program for journalists early in their careers.
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