Mali leader Goita takes defence post after minister killed

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Mali leader Goita takes defence post after minister killed

Published

15 hours ago

May 4, 2026

The leader of Mali’s military government, Assimi Goita, has taken on the role of defence minister following the killing of the previous minister in last week’s uprising by rebel groups.

State television channel ORTM reported on Monday that Goita was taking on the post following the death of Sadio Camara in large-scale attacks by an al-Qaeda-linked group working with Tuareg separatists.

The report noted the presidential decree that Assimi Goita will remain president while also taking on the new role

General Oumar Diarra, who was military chief of staff, has been appointed as delegate minister to the defence ministry.

During the assault on strongholds of the military government, more than a week ago, Camara was killed by a car bomb blast at his residence. The rebel armed groups were able to capture the key northern town of Kidal in the largest attack in the West African country in nearly 15 years.

The fighting killed at least 23 people, with the United Nations children’s agency UNICEF reporting that civilians and children were among the dead and injured.

Mali has been beset by security crises since at least 2012. Al-Qaeda-linked Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) controls large areas of rural territory, especially in the north and central regions, and has active cells around the capital. Similarly, the ISIL (ISIS) affiliate in Sahel Province (ISSP) controls areas in northeastern Menaka city.

At the same time also in the north, armed Tuareg separatists of the Liberation Front for Azawad (FLA) group are fighting for an independent nation called Azawad. They are battling Mali’s military and allied Russian mercenaries who have been deployed since 2021.

Together with the JNIM, they control Kidal, but also want Gao, the largest city in the north, as well as Menaka and Timbuktu, to complete the self-declared state of Azawad.

Those groups sometimes work together: they operate in the same areas and draw from the same pool of fighters from aggrieved communities. In the latest widespread attacks, the JNIM worked with the FLA against the army.

Goita’s military government took power after coups in 2020 and 2021, pledging to restore security, but has struggled to achieve that.t It has cut ties with its former colonial ruler, France, and expelled French forces and United Nations peacekeeping missions.

Last July, military authorities granted coup leader Goita a five-year presidential mandate, which can be renewed “as many times as necessary” without an election.

The previous month, Russia’s Wagner Group, which had been aiding Malian forces against armed groups since 2021, said it would complete its mission. It has now become the Africa Corps, an organisation under the direct control of the Russian defence ministry.

In the wake of last month’s attacks, the rebels announced a blockade of the capital Bamako in retaliation for “the population’s support of the army”. However, that blockade has only partially been effective, according to an AFP correspondent in the city.

📰 மூல செய்தி (Source): https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/5/4/mali-leader-goita-takes-defence-post-after-minister-killed?traffic_source=rss

Related Topics:சர்வதேச செய்திகள்தமிழ் மொழிபெயர்ப்பு

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Taiwan has ‘right to engage with the world’ after Eswatini visit

Published

2 hours ago

May 5, 2026

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Taiwan has ‘right to engage with the world’ after Eswatini visit

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-Te says Taipei has a ‘right to engage with the world’ after a contested visit to its only African ally, Eswatini. Taiwan accuses China of trying to block the trip.

📰 மூல செய்தி (Source): https://www.aljazeera.com/video/newsfeed/2026/5/5/taiwan-has-right-to-engage-with-the-world-after-eswatini-visit?traffic_source=rss

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Russian air attacks kill five at Ukraine’s Naftogaz gas facilities

Published

2 hours ago

May 5, 2026

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Three workers and two emergency service rescuers killed and 37 others wounded, Naftogaz CEO Serhiy Koretskyi says.

At least five people have been killed in Russian air strikes on Ukrainian state-run gas facilities in the Poltava and Kharkiv regions, officials said, a day after Kyiv and Moscow announced unilateral ceasefires to take effect later this week.

Three employees and two rescue workers were killed and 37 people were wounded in the overnight missile and drone barrage, Serhiy Koretskyi, the CEO of Ukraine’s state energy company Naftogaz said on Tuesday.

“We have sustained significant damage and production losses. This was a combined strike involving UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) and ballistic missiles,” said Koretskyi.

He added that the attack cut gas supply to nearly 3,500 customers.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian authorities had shown “utter cynicism” by announcing a ceasefire and then launching missile and drone attacks on his country.

“Russia could cease fire at any moment, and this would stop the war and our responses. Peace is needed, and real steps are needed to achieve it. Ukraine will act in kind,” he said on X.

A day earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a two-day ceasefire in the war with Ukraine on May 8 and 9 to mark Russia’s World War II victory. Zelenskyy countered with his proposed pause in fighting starting on the night of May 5.

Ukraine’s air force said Russia had launched 11 ballistic missiles and 164 drones at the country since 6pm (15:00 GMT) on Monday. One missile and 149 drones were shot down or neutralised, it said, but eight missiles and 14 drones struck 14 locations.

Reporting from Kyiv, Al Jazeera’s Audrey Macalpine said Russian missile attacks were posing a challenge for Ukraine.

“Ukraine has become accustomed to intercepting drones regularly, but it still lacks sufficient means to intercept, especially ballistic missiles, which is why you hear Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy so often pleading with his European partners for more air defence, for things like Patriots, because they are the only weapons that are capable of intercepting ballistic threats,” she said.

Meanwhile, Ukraine attacked one of Russia’s biggest oil refineries on Tuesday, sparking a fire in an industrial area of the Russian town of Kirishi in the Leningrad region, Governor Alexander Drozdenko said.

“The enemy’s main target was the [Kirishinefteorgsintez] oil refinery,” Drozdenko said, adding that there were no casualties as a result of the attack.

The fire was contained, and firefighting operations were nearing completion, he said.

According to industry sources, the Kirishinefteorgsintez oil refinery, one of the largest in the country, processed 17.5 million metric tonnes of oil (350,000 barrels per day) in 2024, which amounted to 6.6 percent of Russia’s total oil refining volumes.

It produced 2 million tonnes of petrol, 7.1 million tonnes of diesel, 6.1 million tonnes of fuel oil and 600,000 tonnes of bitumen.

The Russian Ministry of Defence said its air defence forces destroyed 289 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions overnight.

📰 மூல செய்தி (Source): https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/5/5/russian-attack-kills-five-at-ukraines-naftogaz-gas-facility?traffic_source=rss

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Macron sings as Armenia’s leader drums in unusual moment at state dinner

Published

2 hours ago

May 5, 2026

alaguraj@gmail.com

Macron sings as Armenia’s leader drums in unusual moment at state dinner

French President Emmanuel Macron sang ‘La Boheme’ accompanied by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on the drums during a state dinner in Yerevan. EU leaders are there for the first ever bilateral summit with Armenia, a traditional Russian ally.

📰 மூல செய்தி (Source): https://www.aljazeera.com/video/newsfeed/2026/5/5/macron-sings-as-armenias-leader-drums-in-unusual-moment-at-state-dinner?traffic_source=rss