ARMED MEN abducted a former Malian minister and vocal critic of the country’s military junta from his home in the capital on Saturday, his family said, as the government carries out a widening crackdown following the most significant coordinated attack on its security forces in more than a decade.
The home invasion targeting Mountaga Tall in Bamako occurred shortly before midnight, according to his relative Mahmoud Touré, who spoke to The Associated Press on Sunday. The assailants arrived wearing hoods and did not identify themselves or state why they were seizing Tall.
“They did not explain why and did not present an arrest warrant,” Touré told the AP. “The soldiers mistreated Mountaga Tall’s wife and took his phone.”
Tall held the post of education and science minister from 2016 to 2017 under a previous civilian administration. He now leads the National Congress for Democratic Initiative, a political party that opposes the military government. As a practicing lawyer, Tall has represented politicians and other individuals who have been detained for publicly criticizing the junta.
His family said they have formally filed a complaint with security forces, describing the incident as a kidnapping and disappearance. The government has not responded to requests for comment on the arrests or on Tall’s abduction.
The abduction follows a devastating series of coordinated attacks on April 26, when jihadi fighters and Tuareg-led separatist rebels struck military positions in Bamako and several other cities. The offensive, claimed jointly by the Islamic militant group Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin and the Azawad Liberation Front, was the heaviest assault on the Malian state since 2012. Several people were killed, including Defense Minister Sadio Camara.
On Friday, Mali’s military government stated it had evidence that some soldiers collaborated with the armed groups to facilitate the attacks. Since that declaration, security forces have carried out a wave of arrests — the full scope of which remains unclear.
Tall’s seizure, by men his family says were from the armed forces but who used no legal process, deepens concerns that the junta is using the post-attack security sweep to target political opponents rather than solely those implicated in collaboration.