Published on : 17/08/2022 – 14:26Modified : 17/08/2022 – 14:29
Mali once more on the offensive once morest France, this time before the United Nations. While the withdrawal of the Barkhane force was completed at the beginning of the week, the Malian Minister of Foreign Affairs wrote a letter to the UN Security Council to denounce violations of Mali’s airspace. Abdoulaye Diop also accuses the French army of supporting the jihadists. The information was revealed by our colleagues from Young Africabut RFI was also able to obtain this letter.
The accusations of the Malian Minister of Foreign Affairs are not light: France would provide arms, ammunition and intelligence to jihadist terrorists raging in Mali. The letter written by Abdoulaye Diop is dated August 15, the minister begins by listing a series of cases presented as “ repetitive and frequent violations of Malian airspace by French forces » : « drones, helicopters or fighter jets “would have flown over Mali” without authorization » of Bamako.
About fifty cases have been recorded since the beginning of the year. Abdoulaye Diop denounces “ spying activities » and, more seriously still, « dropped packages by the French army, as in Labezanga on August 8th.
Mali would have, according to Minister Diop, ” many elements ” proving that these illegal incursions into Malian skies have “used by France to collect intelligence for the benefit of terrorist groups” “and to drop arms and ammunition on them. »
A week ago, following theattack on the Tessit camp which claimed the lives of 42 Malian soldiers, the Malian army claimed to have recorded ” covert and uncoordinated overflight operations “proving that the terrorists – in this case the Sahelian branch of the Islamic State Group – had benefited ” major support and external expertise. »
No official reaction from France at this stage
Last April, Mali had already denounced violations of its airspace by the French army. It was just following the episode of Mass grave of Gossi : bodies buried near a military camp returned by Barkhane to the Malian forces. Mass grave attributed by Mali to French soldiers and by France to the Malian army and Russian mercenaries of the Wagner group. Paris had then denied any violation of Malian airspace and denounced attempts to ” disinformation. »
In his letter, the head of Malian diplomacy calls for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council and threatens: ” in the event of the persistence of this posture which undermines the stability and security of our country, Mali reserves the right to use self-defence. »
► Listen once more to the chronicle of the bottom of the Infox: In Gossi, staging of a mass grave to discredit the French army
