Bamako – Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye offered “unwavering support” to neighbouring Mali Tuesday as he visited its junta leader whose government is fighting a jihadist and separatist insurgence.
Faye’s visit to meet Assimi Goita is his first trip since being appointed chair of the west African regional bloc ECOWAS.
However the meeting was primarily bilateral and Faye was not accompanied by other ECOWAS members, diplomatic sources told AFP.
Fighters from the Tuareg separatist movement FLA and Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist group JNIM have carried out coordinated assaults against Mali in recent months.
Following their visit, Faye expressed “Senegal’s unequivocal and firmest condemnation of these heinous, cowardly, and barbaric acts, which are becoming increasingly frequent”.
The rebels in April seized the strategic northern city of Kidal and also killed Malian defence minister Sadio Camara.
The fall of Kidal, a strategic town in Mali’s desert north and an independence stronghold, was a particular blow for the ruling junta, which seized power in two coups in 2020 and 2021 promising to restore the country’s territorial integrity.
“I reiterate that Senegal stands ready to support Mali through this ordeal, so that together we may confront the manifold challenges and threats to peace and stability across the region and the wider Sahel”, Faye said.
Mali’s junta leader Goita did not make a pubic comment.
Along with Niger and Burkina Faso, Mali quit ECOWAS in January 2025 after teaming up to create their own confederation, the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).
Under Goita’s leadership, Mali has turned its back on former colonial ruler France, which had maintained a military presence, and pivoted to Russian paramilitaries from the Wagner Group, which has since been replaced by Moscow’s Africa Corps.
But the junta has struggled to deliver on its promise to restore security after years of jihadist and separatist unrest.
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Source: AFP
