Indians in Mali asked to return home after violent protests and Military coup; helpline number released

 In wake of the shocking military coup effected by top army officials in Mali on Tuesday, the Indian Embassy in the country has issued an advisory to all the expats in the African nation to stay indoors and not step out of their homes unless necessary.

The political and military upheaval in the country has caught the attention of the entire world and ecstatic citizens took to streets on Wednesday after the military took the country’s President and Prime Minister hostage.

Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta on Wednesday said that he had resigned in order to prevent “bloodshed” after military leaders pledged for fresh elections to save a spiralling political crisis in the West African nation.

“We have asked colleagues to return to their homes at the first indication of disturbance. All embassy colleagues are safe. I have advised Indians to return home. We are in touch with Indians and have advised them to be vigilant, not step out from their homes,” AK Sahay, India’s Ambassador to Mali, said in a statement.

Keïta’s government had been struck by protests that lasted months over the stagnating economy, corruption in the country and brutal Islamic insurgency that has so far claimed thousands of innocent lives.

Prime Minister Boubou Cisse was taken into custody by the country’s forces along with the President and they both were taken to a military base on the outskirts of the capital city of Bamako.

President Keïta, who had been in power since 2013, said, “If it pleased certain elements of our military to decide this should end with their intervention, do I really have a choice? (I must) submit to it, because I don’t want any bloodshed.”

The story has been generated by a Wire agency, Title and excerpt changed.