Mali has accused Yann Vezilier of working for the French Intelligence Service to enlist opposition leaders and soldiers in a failed coup

Mali has arrested a French national accused of spying for his country's intelligence services in an attempt to overthrow the West African country's transitional government. Relations between Bamako and Paris have deteriorated in recent years amid allegations that France is sponsoring terrorism to destabilize the Sahel military regimes.

Yann Vezilier was among a "small group of marginal elements" in the Malian army detained on August 1 for "criminal activities aimed at destabilizing" the country, Security Minister Daoud Aly Mohammedine said in a statement on Thursday.

He said Vezilier was "acting on behalf of the French Intelligence Service, which mobilized political leaders, civil society actors, and military personnel," including two generals, Abass Dembele and Nema Sagara, seeking to "break the dynamic of rebuilding Mali." Dembele is a former governor of the Mopti region, while Sagara is a brigadier general in the air force and regarded as one of the few high-ranking women in the Malian army.

Mali is currently ruled by interim President Assimi Goita, an army colonel who led a 2020 military coup against President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita - as well as the May 2021 overthrow of his replacement, Bah N'Daw.

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Unconfirmed reports earlier this week claimed that dozens of Malian soldiers had been detained over a failed plot to topple Goita's government. At least 55 soldiers are said to have been arrested, AFP reported, citing security sources, while Reuters put the figure at between 36 and 40.

On Thursday, Security Minister Mohammedine condemned what he called a "subversive act" involving "foreign states" and said an investigation was under way to identify "possible accomplices."

"The armed and security forces remain determined to complete their mission to combat terrorism, in all its forms," he declared.

The Alliance of Sahel States (AES) - formed by Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger - has repeatedly accused France of seeking to sabotage the group by pressuring members to turn on each other. Niger's transitional leader, General Abdourahamane Tchiani, has alleged that French operatives are also working with rebel factions along border areas in neighboring Benin and Nigeria as part of a coordinated effort to destabilize his country and the wider Sahel.