How anti-government protests led to a coup in Mali

Mali's President Ibrahim Keita had to give up power as anti-government protests culminated in a military coup.

The president, the prime minister and the ruling elite are under detention. It is Mali's second military coup in less than 10 years, the last one was in 2012,both began at the same place at the garrison town of Kati.

On August 18, soldiers stormed a military base in Kati which is barely 15 kilometres away from capital Bamako. They arrested senior officers, lay siege to the armoury and rallied to the capital and by evening President Keita was detained.

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"If today it pleased some elements of our armed forces to conclude that it should end with their intervention, do I really have a choice? I submit to it, because I do not wish any blood to be shed to keep me in power," the president said.

Now, Mali is a headless state - a country plunged into a crisis in the middle of Jihadist insurgency and mass protests. The streets of Bamako are full of armoured tanks and military vehicles. Military leaders have shut the borders and imposed a night-time curfew.

Mali has been locked in a political crisis since June with mass protests calling for Keita's resignation. There are multiple reasons for it - rigged election, corrupt government, sinking economy, growing jihadist insurgency and an army fighting over salaries.

Protesters and Opposition leaders back the army. The international community, however, has condemned the coup. The United Nations estimates that between 2016 and 2020, at least 4,000 people were killed in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.

Islamist groups operate out of central Mali and regularly launch attacks on countries in the Sahel region. An international coalition led by France has maintained presence to drive out fundamentalist forces. They have beenbeen dethroned, but not defeated.

European leaders are worried about instability in Mali as it could fuel another wave of migration. So far, over a million people have fled their homes in west Africa. However, within Africa there is fear as central and west Africa are prone to political instability.

So, Mali's military coup could have a cascading effect as west African states have closed their borders and are mulling sanctions.