Several arrests and "abductions" of opposition members and soldiers took place in Mali after attacks carried out at the end of April by jihadists affiliated with Al-Qaeda and Tuareg separatists against positions of the ruling junta, AFP learned Wednesday from security, judicial and victims' families sources.

Mali is gripped by uncertainty after these large-scale coordinated attacks on April 25 and 26 by jihadists from the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM, allied with Al-Qaeda) and the rebellion of the Tuareg-dominated Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) against strategic positions of the ruling junta in Bamako.

Several towns and villages in northern Mali are now under the control of jihadists and their allies in the FLA. Defense Minister Sadio Camara, 47, a key figure in the junta, was killed in Kati, a junta stronghold near the capital, Bamako, during attacks that, according to a hospital source, left at least 23 dead.

It is difficult to verify the number and identity of people arrested or "abducted" in this Sahelian country where the military has been in control since 2020.

Opposition figures Mountaga Tall, Youssouf Daba Diawara and Moussa Djiré are among those "abducted", security sources and their entourage told AFP.

Mr. Tall was "abducted" on May 2 in Bamako by hooded men, according to his family.

"Mountaga (Tall) is accused of colluding with those destabilizing the transition because of his numerous trips between Bamako and Dakar (capital of neighboring Senegal). He is suspected of plotting with some opposition members based in Dakar to overthrow the military regime," a security source told AFP, a statement confirmed by a source within the intelligence services.

Since his arrest, Mr. Tall has been questioned at least once for "attempting to destabilize", sources close to the case told AFP.

For their part, Mr. Diawara and Mr. Djiré are suspected of having links with, respectively, the influential imam Mahmoud Dicko and Omar Mariko, two opponents in exile, according to security sources.

At least two other civilians, relatives of Mr. Mariko, were also arrested following the attacks of April 25, a judicial source told AFP, without further details.

In a statement published on May 1, the military prosecutor's office announced the arrest of soldiers, following investigations which, according to them, revealed "solid evidence" of "complicity" by some military personnel in "the planning, coordination and execution" of the April 25 attacks, with the alleged involvement of some political actors.

"Everything indicates that these events are being used as an opportunity to organize a purge within the political opposition and the army," a political official who requested anonymity for security reasons told AFP.