(AFRICANEWS) Mali’s ruling junta has cancelled celebrations planned for next week to mark the anniversary of the country’s independence.
The announcement was made public Wednesday following a council of ministers.
Last year, Guinea’s ruling military leader attended the military parade organized for the festivities of Mali’s 62nd independence anniversary.
During Wednesday’s council of ministers, Mali’s military leader ordered the government to allocate the funds planned for this year’s festivities to help victims of a series of recent attacks and their families.
The council also discussed the possible mobilisation of reservists.
The announcement of “sober” independence anniversary coincides with a renewed military activity by the Tuareg separatists, and a succession of attacks attributed mainly to the Al-Qaeda-lin
ked jihadist alliance Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM).
On Tuesday, Tuareg armed separatist groups launched an offensive against army positions in the garrison town of Bourem, which the army said it had repelled.
The two sides provided contradictory reports of events, but both reported dozens of deaths.
