section_path: Early life and military career
section_name: Early life and military career
paragraph_text: Early life and military career
  
  Assimi is a member of the Minianka tribe and the son of a military officer, he was trained in the military academies of Mali and notably attended the Prytanée Militaire de Kati and the Joint Military School in Koulikoro.
  
  Goïta served as a colonel in the Autonomous Special Forces Battalion, the special forces unit of the Malian Armed Forces. He commanded the Malian special forces in the center of the country with the rank of colonel, and took part in the jihadist insurgency in Mali. In 2018, he met the future Guinean coup leader and president Mamady Doumbouya.
  
  Goïta received further military training from the United States, France, and Germany, and had experience working with United States Army Special Forces.