He was welcomed back to the capital Bamako by hundreds of supporters.

Amadou Toure had been in power for decade when mutinying soldiers, unhappy at the way he was handling the Toureg rebellion attacked several installations including the presidential palace, state television, and military barracks.

Toure fled into exile in Senegal,

So called Islamic  State fighters took advantage of the instability in what had been one of Africa’s most stable democracies and took control of half the country.

They were responsible for number excesses including mass executions of presidential loyalists.

it took French military intervention to drive them away and permanent French military presence to keep them out.

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The deputy mayor says the suspected Islamist militants have seized control of an army base.

The Malian army is regrouping in nearby Diabaly preparing a counter-attack to retake the base, which fell into the hands of the assailants

Officials have no information on casualties.

French forces intervened in Mali in 2013 to drive back Islamist fighters who had hijacked a Tuareg uprising to take over the desert north.

But despite the presence of an 11 000-strong peacekeeping force, militants have reorganized and continued to launch attacks across Mali and the wider West Africa region.

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