The leader of Mali’s military government, Assimi Goita, made his first public appearance since a series of coordinated strikes by insurgents rocked the country over the weekend. An al-Qaida affiliate and an allied separatist group assassinated Mali’s defense minister and captured key territory in the country’s north during the attacks. Russia’s defense ministry said its paramilitary forces helped thwart a coup.
During a televised address on Tuesday, Goita vowed to “neutralize” those responsible. The same day, an image circulated of him meeting Russia’s ambassador to Mali. The photo — which depicts him wearing a mask — “speaks louder than words” by highlighting the Malian regime’s reliance on Russian mercenaries, said an Al Jazeera correspondent. But the scale of the insurgent attack, one of the most successful against the regime since it rejected the support of French troops in favor of Russian help, also exposed cracks in Moscow’s power in Africa, noted The Guardian.