Mali, 2012 — military coup

Event Summary

On 22 March 2012 mutinous soldiers in Mali overthrew President Amadou Toumani Toure, known as ATT, just weeks before a presidential election in which he was not even standing. The mutiny began on 21 March at a garrison near the capital Bamako, driven by soldiers' anger at the government's handling of a Tuareg separatist rebellion in the north, launched in January by fighters returning heavily armed from the Libyan civil war, and at the lack of weapons and equipment to fight it. The soldiers attacked the defense minister, then stormed the presidential palace, forcing Toure into hiding under the protection of loyal troops.

The next morning Captain Amadou Sanogo announced on television that his National Committee for the Restoration of Democracy and State had seized power from what it called Toure's incompetent regime, suspending the constitution and closing the borders. The coup was condemned by the United Nations, the African Union, and ECOWAS, which imposed sanctions. It backfired badly: in the ensuing disorder the Tuareg and allied Islamist rebels swiftly captured the northern cities of Kidal, Gao, and Timbuktu, losing the north to insurgents.

Under pressure, Sanogo agreed on 6 April to hand power to a civilian transition, Toure formally resigned on 8 April, and parliament speaker Dioncounda Traore became interim president.