Col Assimi Goïta escapes unharmed after incident during Eid al-Adha celebrations in Bamako

A man has tried to stab Mali’s transitional president, Col Assimi Goïta, during Eid al-Adha celebrations at the Grand Mosque in Bamako.

Witnesses said the incident happened after the imam went to slaughter sheep at the mosque in the capital. One man with a knife and another with a gun participated in the attack, the witnesses said.

Attack occurs in Gao region where insurgents linked to al-Qaida and Islamic State are active

Thirteen UN peacekeepers have been wounded in northern Mali by a car bomb, the UN mission said, while Mali’s army said six of its soldiers were killed in a separate attack in the centre of the country.

The attack on Friday in the north targeted a temporary base set up by the peacekeepers near the village of Ichagara in the Gao region, where Islamist insurgents linked to al-Qaida and Islamic State are active.

Aide of the vice-president who led last year’s coup claims both leaders have stood down while in detention

Mali’s interim president and prime minister have reportedly “resigned”, two days after they were arrested by the military in a widely condemned coup, according to an aide to the military-appointed interim vice-president.

Both civilian leaders, the president, Bah Ndaw, and the prime minister, Moctar Ouane, remained under military arrest on Wednesday in the Kati army base, outside the Malian capital Bamako, amid widespread international condemnation and promises of sanctions.

Coup leaders under pressure to appoint civilian president to prepare country for elections

Mali’s military junta, which staged a coup last month, has agreed to an 18-month transition government led by a military or civilian leader that would pave the way to elections.

Three days of consultations with leaders of political and civil society groups laid out a charter for the transition on Saturday, which will also include a vice-president and transitional council that will serve as the national assembly. The president and vice-president will be chosen by a group of people appointed by the junta, according to Moussa Camara, spokesman for the talks.