France, Aug. 18 -- When Mali's military staged a first coup on 18 August 2020, they said they were not planning on holding onto power and promised elections. But after a second coup that overthrew the transitional civilian government in 2021, the military is still in charge. Five years on, the country finds itself mired in criminal and sectarian violence and economic hardship.

Malians welcomed the coup that overthrew President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita on 18 August 2020.

General Assimi Goita promised to root out jihadists in the north of the country, which Mali had been unsuccessfully trying to do for nearly a decade with the support of the French military and a United Nations peacekeeping mission.

Then Mali experienced its second coup in...