The African country accuses France of arming terrorists and destabilizing it, a day after it saw Russian troops enter Mali.

The African state of Mali has accused France of violating its airspace and arming Islamist militants on its border in an attempt to destabilize the country, despite France fighting the same Islamist militants for a decade. Reuters. The accusations come as relations between France and Mali have deteriorated rapidly in recent times, with the African state moving closer to Putin’s Russia.

On Monday, the UN In a letter to the head of the Security Council, Mali’s Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop said the country’s airspace had been violated more than 50 times this year, mostly by French military drones, military helicopters and French air force warplanes.

“These flagrant violations by Mali have been used by France to obtain information on terrorist groups operating in the Sahel and to drop arms and ammunition to them,” the letter said.

Mali’s diplomacy says it has evidence, although it has not provided any, that France has supplied weapons to Islamist groups it has fought for a decade. France has invested billions of dollars in this war against terrorists.

The accusations mark a new low in France’s relations with its former colony and come shortly after the country withdrew its last troops from Mali. Meanwhile, Russian mercenaries contracted by Mali’s military government are increasing their influence in the African country.

Last week, the Russian dictator held talks with Mali’s military dictator, promising him food, fertilizer and fuel.

German military officials have previously said they saw Russian soldiers landing and unloading equipment at an airport in the northern city of Gao on Monday, the same day French troops left Mali.

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French troops were welcomed into Mali in 2013 with fanfare after defeating Islamist groups that had taken control of the country’s north, including the city of Timbuktu.

However, relations soured especially after the military junta took over the country in 2020.

Author: Adrian Dumitru

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