The French army has filmed what it claims are Russian mercenaries burying bodies near the Gossi base in northern Mali, in a bid it says to accuse the French of leaving a mass grave behind them.
In this video taken using a drone to which AFP had access on Thursday April 21, and which the French general staff describes as an "
informational attack
", we can see Caucasian soldiers bustle around corpses that they cover with sand.
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Read alsoMali: in Gossi, Barkhane accelerates its withdrawal
Images were posted on the Twitter account of a man named Dia Darra, who calls himself a "
former soldier
" and a "
Malian patriot
".
On this account was published a photo of blurred corpses buried in the sand, with the comment: "
This is what the French left behind when they left the base at #Gossi (...) we can't keep silence on that!
".
The Dia Diarra account "
is most likely a fake account created by Wagner
", the Russian private military company, estimates the French staff.
“
This maneuver to discredit the Barkhane force seems coordinated.
It is representative of the multiple information attacks to which the French military have been subjected for many months.
".
The French army also believes that "
the comparison of the photos published on Twitter and the images collected by the specialized sensor makes it possible to make a direct link between what Wagner's mercenaries are doing and what is falsely attributed to the French soldiers
".
According to her, these "
exactions testify to the modes of action implemented by Wagner's mercenaries, who have been observed in the Central African Republic since (his) deployment and which have been denounced by many international organizations and NGOs
".
The Wagner group in the crosshairs
As part of its disengagement from Mali, announced in February, the French army officially handed over the keys to the Gossi base, which hosted 300 French soldiers, to the Malian armed forces (FAMa) on Tuesday.
Paris decided in February its military withdrawal from Mali, in a degraded security context and against a backdrop of tensions between France and the military junta in power, accused by Westerners of using the services of the Wagner group.
Bamako evokes for its part simple Russian advisers.
On Tuesday, the staff had warned to expect informational attacks on the occasion of the handover of the Gossi base.
His spokesman, Colonel Pascal Ianni, had specified that a “
documented
” inventory of the base had been drawn up, to protect France from possible accusations.
An allusion to the anti-French sentiment that has gained ground in the region and has caused France to be the subject of smear campaigns on social networks.
"
Several months ago, the French forces were accused of participating in trafficking (...), of arming terrorists and even of committing abuses
", recalled Colonel Ianni.
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