It’s only been a few weeks since Mali’s latest coup but supporters of the opposition M5 protest movement in Bamako on Friday marked the anniversary of the first demonstration held in June last year.
That protest led to the coup d’état against former president Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta a few weeks later.
During the first coup, the military and M5 were distant and the group was sidelined.
But they now have a warmer relationship since the most recent May 24 coup, when Malian strongman Colonel Assimi Goita, who already led a coup in 2020, ousted the civilian transitional president and prime minister.
He has been named as the transitional president.
But the second putsch has sparked diplomatic uproar, prompting ECOWAS to suspend Mali.
France also said it would suspend joint military operations with Malian forces.
