MALI ACCUSES FRANCE OF ‘SPYING’ AFTER MASS GRAVE FOOTAGE

Wed 27 April 2022:

The public prosecutor in Mali announced on Tuesday the launch of an inquiry into a mass grave uncovered near a former French military base in Gossi, in the north of the country.

Last Friday, the Malian army claimed to have uncovered the mass grave.

“The public prosecutor in Bamako informs the public that on the instruction of the defense and veterans minister, it launched an investigation following the discovery of a mass grave in Gossi, Gourma-Rharous Cercle, in the Tombouctou Region,” said a statement by public prosecutor Soumaila Bagayoko.

According to the statement, the prosecutor, a forensic doctor, and a team of detectives visited Gossi on Saturday with the goal of throwing light on the mass grave.

The preliminary investigation will result in a preliminary report, and the public will be kept informed of the progress, as well as the final result, according to the statement.

The discovery of the mass grave was disclosed by the Malian army just hours after the French military accused Russian Wagner Group mercenaries in Mali of “manipulating information.”

The French army has released images that it says show Russian mercenaries burying bodies near a military base in Mali

This was allegedly part of an attempt to frame French troops for leaving mass graves behind following the withdrawal of troops #Mali #Africa pic.twitter.com/O2AJwoHAVP

— INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) April 23, 2022

“Russian mercenaries burying bodies near the Gossi base with the intention of implicating the French as having left a mass grave behind,” the French army alleged.

After France’s relations with its former colony worsened, the military intervention ended in February.

It sent troops to Mali in 2013 in the hopes of defeating insurgents in northern Mali and the Sahel.

Mali accuses France of espionage

Mali meanwhile has accused the French army of “spying and provocation of its troops” after it used a drone to film a video ostensibly showing soldiers burying bodies near its former military base.

In a statement late Tuesday, the government accused France of violating its airspace and said it has “evidence of more than 50 cases of violations of its airspace.”

“In addition to spying, French forces are guilty of subversion by publishing false images worked up to accuse Malian forces of being responsible for killing civilians,” said the statement, which was signed by the Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralization, Lieutenant-Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga.

Mali once again asked the French army to leave its territory.

Mali’s under-equipped army has also often been accused of committing abuses during the conflict and António Guterres, the UN secretary general, recently warned the UN security council that counter-terrorism efforts in the country had “disastrous consequences for the civilian population”.

A military spokesperson said Mali’s army was guided by human rights and international law, and called for “restraint against defamatory speculations”.

Several French TV and radio networks have been blocked by authorities in Bamako after reporting details of the Moura massacre.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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