In this episode of Mapping Faultlines, NewsClick’s Prabir Purkayastha talks about the recent French withdrawal from Mali and their legacy of violence and instability in the entire region

After a nine year long occupation, French troops have completed their withdrawal from Mali. We look at the record of the French in Mali and what lies ahead for the country.

Colonel Assimi Goïta, who leads the military junta, said that the agreement with the French “brought neither peace, nor security, nor reconciliation” and that the population aspires “to stop the flow of Malian blood”

Mass-demonstrations calling for removal of French troops from Mali have been growing since 2020. In this backdrop, Mali’s transitional government has adopted an increasingly defiant posture vis-a-vis France.

The Economic Community of the West African States took action against Mali following the coup last week when president Bah Ndaw and prime minister Moctar Ouane were arrested and forced to resign

The detention followed a minor reshuffle in the transitional government in which two military representatives were removed. The military had staged a coup in August 2020, forcing then president Boubacar Keita to resign

A probe by the UN mission in Mali concluded that French airplanes attacked a wedding party in a village named Bounti on January 3, killing 22 men, only three of whom were armed

While regional and global leaders condemned Mali’s coup, thousands of people celebrated across the streets of the country’s capital city of Bamako.

The Pan Africanism Today Secretariat reflects on the factors behind the recent coup d’état in Mali and the ensuing political crisis

The coup was in response to the protests going on for the last few months in the country demanding the resignation of the president, widespread reforms and the expulsion of French troops from the country