The interim president of Mali, Assimi Goita on Tuesday was attacked by two armed men, including one wielding a knife in the Great Mosque in the capital Bamako.
It was gathered that the attack happened during prayers for the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha, an AFP journalist who witnessed the event said.
According to the journalist, Goïta has since been taken from the scene.
He further stated that it was not clear whether he had been wounded.
Religious Affairs Minister Mamadou Kone told AFP that a man had “tried to kill the president with a knife” but was apprehended.
Latus Toure, the director of the Great Mosque, said an attacker had lunged for the president but wounded someone else.
Mali has been struggling to contain jihadist insurgency that first emerged in the north of the country in 2012, and has since spread to Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.
Thousands of soldiers and civilians have been killed and hundreds of thousands have fled their homes
