Cheick Mamadou Tall vanishes days after father’s abduction

The family’s legal team reports Cheick Mamadou Tall has been missing since May 16, shortly after receiving a phone call. This new disappearance follows the May 2 abduction of Mountaga Tall in Bamako, allegedly carried out by masked assailants. Authorities have yet to disclose any official details regarding his detention or the circumstances surrounding his forced removal.

Mountaga Tall: from military ally to vocal regime critic

Once a key ally within the M5 protest movement that helped topple former President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta in 2020, Mountaga Tall initially backed the current military leadership before emerging as one of its most outspoken adversaries. The lawyer now represents several soldiers facing charges of attempting to destabilize state institutions and has challenged in court the junta’s decision to dissolve political parties during the ongoing transition period.

Nation grapples with deepening insecurity and political unrest

These disappearances occur against a backdrop of mounting instability. In late April, coordinated attacks attributed to the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM)—affiliated with Al-Qaeda—and the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) targeted critical positions under military control. In response, the Tall family’s legal representatives have urged judicial and administrative authorities to exhaust all available measures to locate the two men and fully investigate their enforced disappearances.