Coup in Mali

The Malian army staged a coup on Aug. 18, marching on the capital, Bamako, and taking the president, Boubacar Keïta, and other leaders into custody. The president and his government resigned the next day. The coup was bloodless, with no reports of fighting.

The reasons behind the coup had not been revealed by press time. However, the president was unpopular and had ordered security forces to fire on opposition rallies as recently as July 10, when 10 people were killed. The country’s Constitutional Court found, in April, that some results from a recent parliamentary election were fraudulent, which led opposition leaders to call for the president’s resignation.

The spokesperson of the rebelling army, Colonel Ismaël Wagué, said the army would be installing a civilian transition government and holding new elections. No timetable for those steps was given.