2023-09-27 18:07:12
Twitter Screenshot (X) A screenshot from the video showing the final moments before the plane crash where the Malian lieutenant colonel died on Saturday.
Twitter screenshot (X)
A screenshot of the video showing the final moments before the plane crash where the Malian lieutenant colonel died on Saturday.
INTERNATIONAL – An embarrassing announcement. This Wednesday, September 27, the junta in power in Mali finally mentioned the loss of a lieutenant colonel killed, according to relatives, aboard the plane which crashed Saturday in Gao, leaving a high but unknown number of victims.
Completely silent since the events, the Malian authorities have therefore mentioned this air crash indirectly and for the first time through this disappearance of a high-ranking officer. But in the tribute paid to Lieutenant-Colonel Moussa Traoré, the Malian army is careful not to specify the circumstances of his disappearance and is content to say that he died on Saturday at the age of 62 “during the ordered air service”.
Yet the officer was indeed on the transport plane that crashed Saturday, family members and a military official speaking on condition of anonymity said radio silence around this tragedy.
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A video described as showing the disaster has been circulating widely on social networks since Wednesday. We see an aircraft resembling a Soviet-designed Ilyushin 76 in the landing phase, failing to stop at the end of the runway before finally crashing into a cloud of flames and smoke.
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Links with the Wagner group
Various officials indicated on Sunday that the aircraft belonged to the Malian army and was transporting members of the Wagner group, and that the human toll was heavy.
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The junta which took power by force in 2020 is suspected of having enlisted the services of this Russian paramilitary company with its criticized actions, at the same time as it broke with the French military ally. She has since also pushed the UN mission, which must have left the country by the end of 2023.
On the other hand, the junta denies cooperation with Wagner and speaks of the presence of instructors from the Russian army helping it to fight the jihadists. The actions of these allies are shrouded in the greatest discretion, but they are regularly accused of abuses.
The Malian authorities have not yet communicated any information on the events that occurred in Gao. However, the funeral of Lieutenant-Colonel Traoré took place on Tuesday in the presence of the Minister of Defense, the chiefs of staff and Colonel Sadio Camara, known to be close to Russia.
Lieutenant-Colonel Traoré had participated in several internal and external missions, and received various distinctions, declared the Malian army. He had also trained as a senior mechanical technician in Russia, she said. It must be said that a certain number of Malian officers received training in Russia.
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