Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

Thousands of Malians demonstrate in support of the government’s fight against terror groups
Pavan Kulkarni
13 May 2026
🖨️ Print Article
Bamako protest
A thousand people gathered in Bamako this weekend to support the popular military government. Photo: screenshot

Two weeks before, the armed forces had fought off the highly coordinated attacks on six cities by about 12,000 jihadist and separatist fighters on April 25.

Originally published in People's Dispatch.

On May 9, thousands of Malians in various cities mobilized to express their support for the national armed forces and the sovereigntist popular military government defending the country from attacks by multiple foreign-backed terror groups.​

In the capital, Bamako – one of the six cities attacked on April 25 – citizens packed the Mamadou Konaté Stadium, which has a seating capacity of 5,500, to attend a gathering themed “For a Mali standing tall, united, at peace and secure”.​

Addressing the gathering, Ibrahim Cissé, president of the National Youth Council of Mali (CNJ), called on the young Malians to join the armed forces in ever greater numbers in the fight against terror groups, insisting, “We refuse to be a youth of spectators.”​

Speaking on behalf of Malian women, “We are all soldiers,” declared Kouyaté Sissoko, representative of the Coordination of Women’s Associations and NGOs of Mali (CAFO).​

Describing the attack on April 25 as “cowardly”, government spokesperson and Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation Brigadier General Issa Coulibaly said that “the Malian people have shown that they will not yield to fear or manipulation.”

About 650 km northeast of Bamako, the city of Mopti was also attacked, along with four other cities across the country, in a coordinated offensive by about 12,000 fighters of the Al-Qaeda affiliate, the JNIM, and a northern Tuareg separatist group, the MNLA.

Just over two weeks later, civil society leaders gathered at Mopti’s governorate building on May 9. Addressing them, regional governor Brigadier General Daouda Dembélé assured that, “Mopti will remain strong and a bulwark”.​

Among the other demonstrations of support was the large public meeting, about 425 kilometers east of Bamako, at the Independence Square in the town of San, the administrative capital of the San region on the border with Burkina Faso.​

In her address to the gathering of youth, women leaders, and religious and traditional leaders, the mayor of the urban commune of San, Félicité Diarra, reiterated the support of the region’s people to the government, led by President Assimi Goïta.​

She also paid tribute to the civilians and soldiers killed on April 25, including Defense Minister Sadio Camara, a lieutenant general posthumously elevated to General’s rank after he fell in battle. “We do not mourn our heroes, we celebrate them,” Coulibaly affirmed in an address, back in Bamako.

Mali
France
terrorism
Alliance of Sahel States
AES

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


Related Stories

Francis Phillip
Security Crises Around the Sahel: Nigeria and the Alliance of Sahel States
10 June 2026
The Alliance of Sahel States are fighting against western backed terrorists.
Socialist Movement of Ghana , Dhoruba bin-Wahad
Statement of Condemnation of the Plan to Have Emmanuel Macron Deliver a Keynote Address on Reparations in Ghana
10 June 2026
The Socialist Movement of Ghana declared its strong opposition to their government's invitation to French president Emmanuel Macron t
Nicholas Mwangi
Police tear gas and arrest protesters at France-Africa counter summit in Nairobi
20 May 2026
Organizers, activists, intellectuals, and international delegates were arrested in Nairobi during an anti-imperialist protest against the Franc
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
France Out of Africa! PASAI Shows the Way
13 May 2026
An international gathering of anti-imperialists in Nairobi, Kenya revealed the lies of “Africa Forward” as the presidents of France a
Kenyan government offers Red carpet for colonizers and a bloody nose for Anti-Imperialists
13 May 2026
The Ruto regime claims a Pan-African mandate when it sends police to Haiti, but it attacks and arrests Pan-African delegates when they gather i
Jeremy Miller
The Republic of Mali Still Stands: A Sahelian coup d'état that almost was
06 May 2026
The attack on Mali was a coordinated international destabilization campaign, but as is usually the case, any coverage from the Wester
Kribsoo Diallo , Essam Elkorghli
The Imperialist Attack on the Alliance of Sahel States 2.0
06 May 2026
From foreign-backed ambushes to French-orchestrated destabilization, this analysis exposes how imperialism weaponizes minority struggles to fra
Raïs Neza Boneza
Macron, Madagascar, and the Return of France’s Old Colonial Ghosts
12 November 2025
In 2025, Françafrique didn’t die — it just booked a seat on a French military plane.
Pedro Stropasolas
Mali Takes Control of One of Africa’s Largest Gold Mines and Launches Its Own Refinery
02 July 2025
Mali’s mining code change in 2024 puts pressure on foreign companies in the country.
Abdirahman M. Ahmed
Using Lessons from the Horn of Africa to Protect the Alliance of Sahelian States
04 June 2025
The Horn of Africa was filled with hope in 2018, when Somali President Mohammed Abdullahi Mohammed, Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, and Ethi

More Stories


  • Former Teacher Shani Robinson Tells Her Story of Prosecution By Fani Willis
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Former Teacher Shani Robinson Tells Her Story of Prosecution By Fani Willis
    01 Sep 2023
    Shani Robinson taught in the Atlanta, Georgia public school system.
  • Gun Violence and Racism
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Gun Violence and Racism
    01 Sep 2023
    Dr. Nicole Price is the Forbes Books author of Spark The Heart: Engineering Empathy In Your Organization.
  • Exonerations in New York State
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Exonerations in New York State
    01 Sep 2023
    Nick Encalada-Malinowski is Director of the Civil Rights Union campaign at Vocal-NY.
  • The Climate Crisis Will End When Capitalism Ends
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    The Climate Crisis Will End When Capitalism Ends
    30 Aug 2023
    The climate emergency won't end because of heartfelt pleas to the people and the interests who created the crisis. Ecocide will stop when capitalism ends.
  • EDITORIAL: Joanne Little: American Goes on Trial, Freedomways, 1975
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    EDITORIAL: Joanne Little: American Goes on Trial, Freedomways, 1975
    30 Aug 2023
    To mark the last days of Black August, we reprint below Freedomways’ 1975 editorial about Joanne Little, a Black woman indicted for killing her white prison guard and would-be rapist.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us