Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita resigned on Tuesday and dissolved parliament hours after mutinying soldiers detained him at gunpoint, plunging a country already facing a jihadist insurgency and mass protests deeper into crisis. Images posted earlier on social media said to be taken at the Kati garrison showed Keita and Cisse surrounded by armed soldiers. Mali has seen months of protests against alleged corruption and worsening security in the West African country where Islamist militants are active, and there have been calls for Keita to resign. The Economic Community of West African States condemned "the overthrow by putschist soldiers of the democratically elected government". IBK is finished," Haidara Assetou Cisse, a teacher, said earlier in the day, referring to Keita by his initials.

Source: dna August 19, 2020 00:45 UTC