Published on : 11/07/2022 – 14:35
The Ivorian soldiers were arrested on Sunday July 10, 2022 in the early followingnoon at Bamako airport. Since then, alarmist and even conspiratorial messages have been circulating on social networks, presenting them as heavily armed mercenaries who have come to destabilize the country. These soldiers actually belong to the regular Ivorian army. They had to secure, according to the Ivorian army, sites of Minusma, the United Nations Mission.
They belong to the 8th detachment of the NSE (National Support Element). It is a framework of the Ivorian general staff who specifies it: these 49 soldiers arrived in Bamako Sunday at midday, on board the same plane which had brought back to Abidjan, the same morning, the previous detachment. Two planes even, to be precise, one transporting the men, the other the material. ” It’s an unfortunate misunderstanding “Explains this senior officer of the Ivorian army, who assures that everything was in order for their arrival.
According to the Ivorian army, however, it is administrative problems that are invoked by the Malian authorities. ” First, they said the plane was not on the list of aircraft cleared to land. This problem was quickly solvedcontinues this source, but now they say our soldiers didn’t have proper mission letter. Asked by RFI, neither the Malian army nor the Malian Ministry of Defense wished to respond. The 49 Ivorian soldiers spent the night in detention. The problem is still not solved.
A Danish precedent
According to the explanations of the Ivorian army, these soldiers are there within the framework of the Ivorian contribution to the Minusma. They are seconded to a private company, SAS, Sahel Aviation Service, itself a subcontractor of the UN mission. Run by a German, this company usually works in the sub-region for NGOs, mining groups or even for the United Nations. In any case, this is what its website specifies since, joined by RFI, the company SAS confirmed that it was mobilized on the case of the Ivorian soldiers, but did not wish to provide any details.
According to the Ivorian army, the soldiers arrested in Bamako are supposed to secure Minusma sites, in particular at Bamako airport, but also in “ logistics warehouses “. The UN Mission also declined to comment at this stage. This case reminds that of the Danish military : last January, they arrived in Mali as part of the Takuba force, following the usual procedures. The Malian authorities had considered that these procedures were no longer sufficient to guarantee their “ consent and forced them to return home.
