Mali’s President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has announced his immediate resignation on state television.

The announcement last evening was made hours after mutinous soldiers, in a suspected coup, reportedly arrested him and the Prime Minister.

Yesterday’s events sparked international condemnation and are likely to further destabilise the West African nation.

The development followed months of anti-government mass protests and a rising insurgency from Islamist militants.

Wearing a blue surgical mask amid the coronavirus pandemic, the President said on national broadcaster ORTM that he had little choice but to stand down to avoid bloodshed, and the country’s national assembly and government would now be dissolved.