Eleven soldiers, including two brigadier generals, have been dismissed from Mali’s Armed and Security Forces as part of disciplinary measures, official decrees published on Tuesday, October 8, 2025, confirm.
The decisions, signed by Transitional President Assimi Goïta on October 7 and by Defense Minister Lieutenant General Sadio Camara on October 8, affect several officers and a non-commissioned officer from different units.
The official notices, published in Mali’s Official Journal, cite “disciplinary measures” but provide no further details on the reasons for the dismissals.
Brigadier General Abass Dembélé of the Army and Brigadier General Néma Sagara of the Air Force were among the highest-ranking officers dismissed. General Dembélé, a former governor of Mopti, previously commanded the Timbuktu military region.
General Sagara, the first woman to attain her rank in the Malian Air Force, has participated in multiple international missions in Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire.
Also dismissed were six lieutenant colonels, three captains, and one non-commissioned officer, as detailed in Ministerial Order No. 2025-4620/MDAC-SG.
The actions follow findings from fact-finding boards conducted between September 30 and October 6.
Authorities indicate the dismissals relate to the dismantling of an alleged conspiracy within the armed and security forces, first reported in early August.
Several soldiers implicated in the plot were arrested at the time, along with a French national, Yann Vezilier, an air engineer assigned to the French embassy in Bamako.
Malian officials have described him as an intelligence agent operating under diplomatic cover, a claim rejected by Paris, which insists he is a technical aid worker enjoying diplomatic immunity under the Vienna Convention.
The government has reassured citizens that the situation is “completely under control” and that judicial investigations are ongoing.
Since the August 2020 coup, Mali has struggled with a persistent jihadist insurgency, and in January 2025, President Goïta warned against any attempts to destabilize the country or the Confederation of Sahel States (ESA).
These dismissals underscore ongoing concerns over loyalty and security within Mali’s military amid a fragile transitional government navigating both internal threats and regional instability.
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