Mali accused France of arming Islamist fighters and finishing up acts of espionage towards it, as relations between the West African nation and the previous colonial energy reached a brand new low.
In a letter addressed to the United Nations Safety Council, Malian Overseas Minister Abdoulaye Diop known as for an emergency assembly in response to what he described as French “acts of aggression.”
The letter, dated Monday, August 15, the day the final French military unit left Mali after a six-month navy withdrawal, alleges that France violated Malian airspace greater than 50 instances this 12 months “to gather info for the good thing about terrorist teams within the Sahel and to airdrop them weapons and munitions.”
The French embassy in Mali responded on Twitter, saying that, “France has clearly by no means supported, straight or not directly, these terrorist teams, who stay its enemies in every single place on earth.”
“53 French troopers died in Mali during the last 9 years,” the assertion learn. “Their mission was, above all, to combat terrorist teams and enhance the security of Malians by doing so.”
In February, France introduced the tip of its nine-year counterinsurgency efforts in Mali, amid rising tensions with the nation’s navy junta, which overthrew President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta in 2020, and later deserted commitments to carry elections and restore civilian rule.
The choice to drag out of Mali marked a significant setback in Paris’ efforts to combat terrorist teams within the Sahel area, ongoing since 2013. Germany on Friday suspended its navy mission to Mali “till additional discover,” as terrorists and Russian mercenaries proceed to destabilize the embattled African nation.
Since final 12 months, Russian mercenaries have been working for the Malian junta in its combat towards Islamist insurgents, changing the French forces as Russia goals to widen its sphere of affect within the area.
