Mali accuses France of arming Islamist fighters in letter to U.N

BAMAKO (Reuters) -Mali says France has violated its airspace and delivered arms to Islamist militants in an try and destabilise the West African nation, the newest in a barrage of accusations which have marked the bitter finish to their as soon as shut relations.

In a letter to the top of the United Nations Safety Council dated Monday, Mali’s international affairs minister, Abdoulaye Diop, stated its airspace has been breached greater than 50 instances this 12 months, largely by French forces utilizing drones, navy helicopters and fighter jets.

“These flagrant violations of Malian airspace had been utilized by France to gather info for terrorist teams working within the Sahel and to drop arms and ammunition to them,” the letter stated.

Mali offered no proof to point out that France had equipped arms to Islamist teams. France has spent a decade and billions of {dollars} to stamp out Islamist militants, some with hyperlinks to al Qaeda and Islamic State, in its former colony.

“France has clearly by no means supported, straight or not directly, these terrorist teams, which stay its designated enemies throughout the planet,” stated the French Embassy in Mali, in a Twitter thread.

It stated that 53 French troopers had died throughout its nine-year mission in Mali and that France had killed tons of of Islamist fighters so as to enhance safety for Malians. France has additionally suffered Islamist assaults at residence, it added.

The accusations mark a brand new low in relations simply as France pulls the final of its troops out of Mali and Russian mercenaries employed by Mali’s navy authorities develop their attain. The swap worries western powers who see their affect slipping within the Sahel.

Russian President Vladimir Putin mentioned probably supplying meals, fertilisers and gasoline to Mali in a name with the nation’s interim president final week.

German U.N. troopers stated they noticed Russian forces touchdown on the airport and unloading tools on Monday within the northern city of Gao, the day the final French troopers left.

French forces had been welcomed as heroes in Mali in 2013 once they beat again Islamist teams that had taken over the north, together with the fabled metropolis of Timbuktu.

However a collection of setbacks and extended assaults by the militants have soured relations, which turned worse since a navy junta overthrew the federal government in 2020 and later overthrew an interim civilian cupboard.

(Reporting by Fadima Kontao; Writing by Anait Miridzhanian and Nellie Peyton; Modifying by Edward McAllister, Hugh Lawson and Diane Craft)