Mali’s ruling militia has cancelled the celebrations it planned for next week, to signal the anniversary of the country’s independence, according to a report by the council of ministers. This announcement is coming after hostilities in the north resumed.
The council of ministers had additionally, deliberated on the possible dispatch of reservists.
The junta leader Assimi Goita, had said that the independence would be “celebrated in sobriety and in the spirit of national revival.”
Goita had directed the government to apportion the funds planned for the festivities to aid the victims of the recent attacks and their families.
Mali had been plunged into unrest in 2012, by independence and Salafist insurrections in the north. This turmoil saw a resurgence this week as Tuareg armed separatist groups commenced attacks.
On Tuesday, September 12, the Tuaregs launched an offensive against army positions in the garrison town of Bourem, but the army had reported that this was repelled.
The renewed military activity by the Tuareg separatists has been linked with a succession of attacks attributed majorly to the Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist alliance Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM).
The series of attacks have also tallied with the ongoing withdrawal of the UN stabilisation mission- MINUSMA.
Mali, a country that had formerly been colonised by France had become an independent republic on September 22, 1960.
