Defense Minister Sadio Camara was killed last weekend during unprecedented rebel attacks against the military regime in Mali. A national tribute under high security was paid to him on Thursday, in the presence of junta leader Assimi Goïta and in front of thousands of people.

Published on: 04/30/2026 - 3:29 p.m. Modified on: 04/30/2026 - 5:16 p.m.

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In the presence of the head of the Malian junta Assimi Goïta and in front of thousands of people, a national tribute and under high security was paid Thursday, April 30 in Bamako, to the Minister of Defense Sadio Camara, killed last weekend during unprecedented rebel attacks against the military regime.

The ceremony, which took place at the military engineering battalion located in the city center of the Malian capital, took place under very high security, with a strong presence of heavily armed soldiers, noted AFP.

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Checkpoints and barricades were also installed on all roads leading to the scene and security forces strictly controlled entries.

With closed faces, thousands of people, parents, relatives, friends, officials from Mali, and officials from neighboring countries participated in the ceremony, marked by solemnity and sadness.

Posters bearing the image of Sadio Camara, who died at the age of 47, were put up everywhere in the brigade compound. He was a key figure in the junta and considered the architect of the rapprochement with Russia in recent years. Two days of national mourning were declared by the government after his death.

The funeral took place in the presence of the defense ministers of Niger and Burkina Faso, also led by juntas, and which with Mali form the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).

“Fallen as a martyr”

In combat gear and wearing dark glasses, Assimi Goïta paid tribute to General Camara by bowing in front of his coffin, covered with the green-yellow-red flag of Mali and on which his military cap was placed.

“He contributed to defining Mali's priorities in terms of defense. He represented unwavering loyalty to the general interest. Despite the weight of responsibilities, he never deviated from his missions,” testified Prime Minister Abdoulaye Maïga, referring to Sadio Camara. “You fell as a martyr. You left as a hero,” he said.

Bakary Camara, spokesperson for the family, for his part paid tribute to an “attentive father, husband and son”. “He fell as a martyr and his name will be engraved in the Pantheon of the reconquest of the homeland,” he declared.

The testimonies were then followed by a military parade in tribute to General Camara.

Sadio Camara was killed on Saturday in Kati, a garrison town located about fifteen kilometers from Bamako and a stronghold of the junta, by a "trap vehicle driven by a suicide bomber" having targeted his residence, according to the Malian government. He was posthumously elevated to the rank of army general.

Mali faces a critical security situation, and is prey to uncertainty and excitement after the coordinated and simultaneous attacks by these armed groups across the country, which left at least 23 civilian and military dead, according to a hospital source.

The death of Sadio Camara is a serious blow for the junta, which finds itself in a very difficult situation, while the strategic town of Kidal (north) is now under the control of armed groups who seem to continue to advance in the north.

The death of the general, these large-scale attacks and the loss of Kidal also cast doubt on the junta's abilities to face threats from armed groups and undermine its rhetoric, which until now affirmed that its strategy of rupture, its new foreign partnerships and its increased military effort had made it possible to reverse the trend against radical Islamist fighters.

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On Tuesday, Assimi Goïta affirmed that the situation was now “under control”, while recognizing a moment of “extreme seriousness”.

“The situation is far from being under control,” retorted FLA spokesperson Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane on Wednesday in an exclusive interview with AFP, affirming that the military regime “will fall, sooner or later.”

Moscow for its part affirmed Thursday that its forces would remain in Mali, thus rejecting the rebels' call for a Russian withdrawal from the country.

With AFP

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