Mountaga Tall, a former Malian minister and critic of the ruling junta, was abducted from his home in Bamako by armed, hooded men shortly before midnight Saturday, a family member told The Associated Press.
Mahmoud Touré said the men did not identify themselves or explain why they were seizing Tall. Touré told AP that the abductors did not present an arrest warrant and that they mistreated Tall’s wife during the raid. He also said the men took Tall’s phone and that they told him they were from the armed forces.
Tall, who previously served as Mali’s education and science minister from 2016 to 2017, is also the president of the National Congress for Democratic Initiative, a political party opposed to the military government. As a lawyer, he represents politicians and other individuals who have been arrested for criticizing the junta.
Touré said Tall’s family has filed a complaint with Mali’s security forces “regarding kidnapping and disappearance,” according to AP. AP reported that the Malian government had not commented on the abduction.
The case comes as Mali faces a widening security crisis after a wave of armed attacks against the government in the conflict-battered West African country. AP reported that on April 26 Mali was hit by one of the biggest coordinated attacks on its army in Bamako and several other cities, in which jihadists and rebels seized towns and military bases and killed several people, including the defense minister, Sadio Camara.
AP said the Islamic militant group Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, along with the Azawad Liberation Front, a Tuareg-led separatist group, jointly launched the heaviest attack on the government since 2012. After the attacks, the military government said Friday it had evidence that soldiers collaborated with the groups, and it has since carried out a wave of arrests, AP reported.