Colonel Assimi Goïta (born 1983) is a Malian military officer who has been interim President of Mali since 28 May 2021. Goïta was the leader of the , a military force that seized power from former president Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta in the 2020 Malian coup d'état. Goïta later took power from Bah Ndaw after the 2021 Malian coup d'état and has since been declared interim president of Mali. Biography Assimi Goïta was born in 1983. The son of an officer of the Malian Armed Forces, he was trained in the military academies of Mali and notably attended the and the Joint Military School in Koulikoro. He is married to Lala Diallo, who is a member of the Fula people. Goïta served as a colonel in the Autonomous Special Forces Battalion, the special forces unit of the Malian Armed Forces. He heads the Malian special forces in the center of the country with the rank of colonel. He is thus confronted with the jihadist insurgency in Mali. In 2018, he met Mamady Doumbouya, from Guinea, in Burkina Faso during a training session organised by the US army, which was reserved for the region's special forces commanders. Both he and Mamady Doumbouya would later launch military coups against their governments. Goïta received training from the United States, France, and Germany, and had experience working with United States Army Special Forces. Goïta serves as the leader of the National Committee for the Salvation of the People, a group of rebels who overthrew Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta in the 2020 Malian coup d'état, and have pledged to initiate new elections to replace him. Because of this pledge, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) pressured Mali's ruling junta for the country to be led by a civilian. On 21 September he was named vice president by a group of 17 electors, with Bah Ndaw being appointed president. He was appointed vice president of the Transition on 21 September 2020, a position he was to have held for 18 months, until new elections. He took the oath of office on 25 September 2020. On 1 October 2020, the "Mali Transition Letter" was published where it was specified, in response to the request of the ECOWAS, that the vice president "in charge of defense and security issues" would not be able to replace President Bah Ndaw. On 24 May 2021, Goïta was involved in the 2021