Bamako
Mali’s worried allies and neighbours have appealed for restraint and dialogue as the country’s deepening political crisis spirals into bloodshed.
After three days of unrest in the capital Bamako, representatives of the United Nations, the European Union, the African Union and West African bloc ECOWAS late Sunday voiced their concern.
Condemning “any form of violence as a means of crisis resolution,” they attacked the use of lethal force by the security forces and urged dialogue, but warned that the arrest of protest leaders was an obstacle to this.
President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita is facing a mounting wave of protests sparked by the outcome of a long-delayed parliamentary poll, but whose underlying causes include discontent over his handling of Mali’s jihadist insurgency.
The 75-year-old has been in power since 2013.
Eleven people have died and 124 have been injured since Friday, according to a senior official at an emergency department of a major hospital in Bamako.
Witnesses said security forces fired live rounds during clashes with protesters, with the civil unrest the worst the country has seen in years.—APP
