Sadio Camara

At the time of the 2020 coup, Camara was serving as head of the Kati Military School,^[8] and was receiving military training in Russia^[9] since 2019.^[7] Camara was on leave from his training in Russia^[7] when he took part in the August 2020 coup and was named Minister of Defense in October 2020 under the interim government of Prime Minister Moctar Ouane.^[10] He served in that position until late May 2021 when he was excluded from the newly formed government by Bah Ndaw, the interim leader after the 2020 coup.^[10]

Camara's ousting allegedly prompted Colonel Assimi Goïta to launch a "coup within a coup" in May 2021 when Goïta took over power and ordered the arrest of Ndaw and his cabinet during the 2021 Malian coup d'état. This prompted the United Nations and many governments to condemn the coup and ask for the release of the detained leaders.^[10][11][12]

On 11 June 2021, Col. Goïta—who later became a général d'armée—appointed Camara again as Minister of Defense and Veterans Affairs,^[10][4] and he was eventually promoted to the rank of général de corps d'armée.^[13] Camara was a key architect of the "pro-sovereigntist" policy of the military junta, which sought to replace France with Russia as Mali's international partner, and helped arrange the deployment of Russia's Wagner Group to Mali.^[7] He regularly announced the transfers of military equipment to Mali from Russia, and visited his Russian counterpart, Andrey Belousov, in June 2025.^[14] The United States imposed sanctions on Camara in July 2023 for his links to the Wagner Group.^[15][1] His designation revealed that he also held French citizenship.^[1] The sanctions were lifted in February 2026.^[16]

Camara was assassinated on 25 April 2026 in the wake of the nationwide militant attacks led by the Azawad Liberation Front and the JNIM. A vehicle-borne explosive detonated outside his residence in Kati, a heavily fortified garrison town about 15 kilometres northwest of Bamako, the capital, where President Assimi Goïta and other junta leaders also reside.^[17][18] The government confirmed his death the next day and announced that Mali would observe two days of mourning in his honor.^[19]

• Media related to Sadio Camara at Wikimedia Commons