Ibrahima Dahirou Dembélé is a Malian general who served as the Minister of Defense of Mali from May 5, 2019, to August 18, 2020.

Biography

Dembélé was born on January 9, 1967, in

Ségou Ségou (; , ) is a town and an Communes of Mali, urban commune in south-central Mali that lies northeast of Bamako on the right bank of the River Niger. The town is the capital of the Ségou Cercle and the Ségou Region. With 130,690 inhabitant ...

, Mali. He graduated from the Kati Military Academy in 1981, and entered the Koulikoro Joint Military School in

Koulikoro Koulikoro ( Bambara: ߞߎߟߌߞߏߙߏ tr. Kulikoro) is a town and urban commune in Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in A ...

in 1998. Following his graduation from Koulikoro in 1991, he commanded several units in northern and central Mali. Dembélé became the Malian chief of staff on March 28, 2012, after the

2012 Malian coup d'état The 2012 Malian coup d'état began on 21 March that year, when mutinying Malian soldiers, displeased with the management of the Tuareg rebellion, attacked several locations in the capital Bamako, including the presidential palace, state televi ...

, although he was dismissed by newly elected president

Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta (; 29 January 1945 – 16 January 2022), often known by his initials IBK, was a Malian politician who served as the president of Mali from September 2013 to August 2020, when he was forced to resign in the 2020 Malian cou ...

in November 2013 and replaced by Mahamane Touré. Dembélé was accused of "passive complicity" over the killing of 21 paratroopers from the 33rd Parachute Commando Regiment, and was relieved from judicial control in January 2018. He was appointed on May 5, 2019, as Minister of Defense by the Boubou Cissé government. Dembélé was arrested and sacked from his position during the

2020 Malian coup d'état On 18 August 2020, elements of the Malian Armed Forces began a mutiny, and subsequently undertook a coup d'état. Soldiers on pick-up trucks stormed the Soundiata military base in the town of Kati, where gunfire was exchanged before weapons w ...

References

{{Reflist Living people 1967 births People from Ségou Malian military personnel Defense ministers of Mali