Coup Atlas Research Database
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43208182020SuccessfulMilitary coup

Mali, 2020 — military coup

Mali (MLI)West Africa, AfricaAugust 18, 2020

Event Summary

On 18 August 2020 mutinous soldiers in Mali overthrew President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, known as IBK, after months of mass protests against his rule. The mutiny began that morning at the Kati military base near the capital Bamako, where soldiers seized the armory and arrested senior officers before moving into the city in trucks and armored vehicles. They detained IBK and Prime Minister Boubou Cisse at the president's residence, along with other officials.

Around midnight IBK announced on state television that he was resigning and dissolving the government and parliament, saying he did not want blood spilled to keep him in power. A group of five colonels led by Assimi Goita then appeared on television as the National Committee for the Salvation of the People, closing the borders and imposing a curfew. The coup followed protests that had run since June, led by the M5-RFP opposition coalition, over the government's handling of a jihadist insurgency, alleged corruption, disputed 2020 legislative elections, and a floundering economy.

Malians celebrated in the streets, but the coup drew condemnation and sanctions from ECOWAS and the African Union. Under mediation the junta agreed to an 18 month transition, and in September a retired officer, Bah Ndaw, was named interim president with Goita as vice president. This was Mali's second coup in less than a decade.

Films & Footage

The junta's National Committee for the Salvation of the People gives a press conference after the coup, Bamako, August 2020.
The junta's National Committee for the Salvation of the People gives a press conference after the coup, Bamako, August 2020. Photo: Kassim Traoré / Voice of America
A Malian Army armored vehicle in the streets of Bamako during the coup, August 2020.
A Malian Army armored vehicle in the streets of Bamako during the coup, August 2020. Photo: Mariama Diallo / Voice of America
Civilians cheer Malian soldiers in Bamako, August 2020.
Civilians cheer Malian soldiers in Bamako, August 2020. Photo: Mariama Diallo / Voice of America

Archival media is credited to its holding collection and license. Media sourcing policy →

Researched Details

Researched

Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita (IBK), detained by mutinous soldiers and forced to resign on television; not physically harmed, later released
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Assimi Goita (colonel who led the junta)
Ibrahim Boubacar Keita / IBK (deposed president)
Boubou Cisse (prime minister, detained)
Bah Ndaw (later named interim president)

Sources

On 18 August 2020 elements of the Malian Armed Forces mutinied and undertook a coup, storming the military base at Kati and detaining several government officials including President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who resigned and dissolved the government; it was the country's second coup in less than 10 years, following the 2012 coup.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, 2020 Malian coup d'etat open source ↗
Keita resigned around midnight while dissolving the government and parliament, saying he wanted no blood spilled to keep him in power, and five colonels led by Colonel Assimi Goita appeared on the TV broadcast, calling themselves the National Committee for the Salvation of the People.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, 2020 Malian coup d'etat open source ↗
The Malian military ejected the civilian government following two months of street protests; soldiers mutinied at the Kati base and detained President Keita, Prime Minister Boubou Cisse, and senior officials, and IBK announced his resignation and the dissolution of the cabinet and National Assembly on national television, saying he was bowing to the military's request because he did not want any bloodshed.
SOURCE REVIEWED CSIS open source ↗
Protests in Mali had been ongoing since 5 June, with protesters displeased with the government's management of the insurgency, alleged corruption, the COVID-19 pandemic, and a floundering economy, and after the coup the National Committee for the Salvation of the People agreed on 12 September 2020 to an 18 month transition, with Bah Ndaw named interim president and Goita vice president.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, 2020 Malian coup d'etat open source ↗

Editorial Note

Coded fate arrested or jailed is verified: IBK was detained by the mutineers before resigning on TV; he was not harmed and was later released (he died in January 2022). Coded as a military coup on 08-18, matching the sources. This ties directly to the Mali 2012 record (43203222012), the country's previous coup, and pairs with the 2021-05-24 record, which is the same Goita-led junta's second coup against the transition it installed here. The M5-RFP protest movement that weakened IBK was largely sidelined from the transition, a grievance that fed into the 2021 sequel.

How It Unfolded

Hand-coded by Coup Atlas from the sources on this page, using a fixed list of tactics. Only events we have read through carry this coding, so most records do not have it yet.

Led by
Military
How long it took
Under a day — resolved within 24 hours
  • Troop movements in the capital or key cities
  • Detention or expulsion of the incumbent leader
  • Mass arrests of officials, officers, or opponents

Cross-Reference

Datasets agree. At least two of the three reference datasets we check against carry this event, and none of them disagrees about its date or its result.

Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:

Cline Center id
43208182020
Powell & Thyne id
PT-MLI-2020
Albrecht/Koehler/Schutz (CAM) id
CAM-432-2020-08-18

How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita (IBK), detained by mutinous soldiers and forced to resign on television; not physically harmed, later released.

Baseline coding: Incumbent executive removed from power. Recorded leader fate: deposed; arrested or jailed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.

Baseline Dataset Citation
Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
Open dataset DOI ↗
⚑ This citation establishes the coded baseline record; use the claim-level sources above for the researched narrative.

Baseline Source-Document Entries

New York Times

“Mali Coup Leaders Pledge Democracy After Deposing President,” August 19, 2020
“Leaders of Mali Coup Cite Patronage and ’Bad Governance’,” August 20, 2020

This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →

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Related Records

Mali — Military coup, 20212021-05-24SuccessfulWest AfricaMali — Military coup, 20122012-03-22SuccessfulWest AfricaMali — Military coup, 20222022-05-11ConspiracyWest Africa