Mali’s prime ministerand his government have resigned in a surprise move just months before presidential polls are due to be held.

Authorities gave no reason for Abdoulaye Idrissa Maïga’s decision to step down seven months before the president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, seeks re-election.

The president’s office said Maïga, who had been in his post since April, handed in his resignation along with his government’s on Friday, when it was accepted.

The statement said Maïga had thanked the president for the opportunity to serve his country and that a replacement prime minister and government would swiftly be found.

Maïga, a trained engineer who hails from the northern city of Gao, is vice-chair of the ruling Rally for Mali, which Keïta founded. He was Keïta’s campaign director during his successful run for the presidency in 2013.

He resigns with Mali’s north still a theatre of unrest almost six years after a French-led military operation chased Islamic extremists linked to Al-Qaida from a region they had taken control of in early 2012.

Mali’s army, French soldiers and a UN mission still have little control over large tracts of the country, which regularly come under attack in spite of a peace accord signed with Tuareg leaders in May and June 2015 with the aim of isolating the jihadists.

The past two years have seen jihadist attacks spread to central and southern areas as well as over the border into neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.

The growing unrest this year prompted the G5 regional forum, which also includes Mauritania and Chad, to step up peace efforts with French support.

Maïga was Keïta’s fourth prime minister after Oumar Tatam Ly (September 2013-March 2014), Moussa Mara (April 2014-January 2015) and Modibo Keïta (January 2015-April 2017).