BAMAKO: Mali’s military-led government has arrested two generals and a French national, accusing them of participating in an alleged plot to destabilize the West African nation, according to a government statement and state-owned media. Mali has endured over a decade of turmoil marked by Islamist insurgencies in its arid north along with political instability that culminated in a series of coups in 2020 and 2021 that brought current president General Assimi Goita to power.

Frustration has grown since the military government banned political parties and extended its rule indefinitely.

The authorities also detained dozens of soldiers and accused ‘foreign states’ of trying to destabilise the country.