After tracking them down, France would support the jihadists in the Sahel.
This is the accusation made by Mali, in a letter sent Wednesday to journalists by its services and abundantly reproduced on social networks.
The military-dominated government is calling for an emergency meeting there to put an end to what it presents as "acts of aggression" by France.
The context of this missive is not insignificant since it corresponds to the departure of the last French soldier in Mali after nine years of engagement against the jihadists.
The junta in power in Mali since the August 2020 putsch has turned away from France and its allies to turn towards Russia.
“They wanted to mark the occasion”, points out Wassim Nasr, journalist at France 24, specialist in jihadist movements, and author of “Islamic State, the accomplished fact” (Plon editions).
“This letter comes in the wake of a statement on Tessit, where a massacre took place and 42 Malians were killed, and at least 9 missing.
In this famous statement they assure that the jihadists have received
external support
.
This was already aimed at France, ”he underlines.
Last April, the junta already claimed to have “noted since the beginning of the year more than fifty deliberate cases of violation of Malian airspace by foreign aircraft, in particular operated by French forces”.
“Wacky” accusations
This time again the Malian authorities point directly to France.
In this letter addressed to the United Nations Security Council, they claim to have "several pieces of evidence that these flagrant violations of Malian airspace have been used by France to collect intelligence for the benefit of terrorist groups operating in the Sahel and to drop arms and ammunition on them.
#Mali: the transitional government accuses France and #Barkhane of supporting terrorist groups (circular letter) pic.twitter.com/tp7ALDNx5g
— Sega DIARRAH (@segadiarrah) August 17, 2022
“What the Malian government calls terrorist are all the armed groups that oppose the Malian state, recalls Michel Goya, colonel and military writer.
There has always been the accusation that France has sympathy for these groups.
Read also“Everyone has gone on the offensive”: why the break between Mali and France is consummated
Do these latest accusations change the situation?
“They are completely wacky”, slice Wassim Nasr.
This is anchored in this vein which wants Westerners to help the jihadists.
It already goes back to Syria and it simply serves to discredit the French forces, it is pure populism which is not based on anything, ”he slices.
According to him, the helicopters mentioned in the document do not belong to the Barkhane force.
"There has been no theft for the benefit of Barkhane for a long time," insists Wassim Nasr.
An internal message
If Mali “reserves the right to use self-defense” in the event of prosecution of “French actions”, for Michel Goya the message is above all internal and targets public opinion in the country.
"It's not going to go much further.
The idea of the junta is above all to say: we are defending the country and its independence”.
And to recall that the attitude of France has not always been exemplary.
“The attitude of the President of the Republic was very displeasing, he appeared a little brutal, speaking of sensitive areas.
It is a former colony, and not just any colony, it was a region in which we had little military presence”.
Reacting this Thursday to these accusations, the deputy spokesman for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs François Delmas declared that he condemned "the multiplication of manipulations of information which must in no way divert attention from the deterioration of the security and humanitarian situation. in the country whose populations are the first victims".
In a series of messages posted on Twitter, the French Embassy in Mali recalled on Wednesday that “France has obviously never supported, directly or indirectly, these terrorist groups, which remain its designated enemies throughout the planet. ".
[𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃] 𝟏) 𝐋𝐚 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐞 𝐚𝐮 𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐢 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟑 𝐞𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐚̀ 𝐚̀ 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐬.
– France in Mali (@FranceauMali) August 17, 2022
“It is particularly insulting to see that we can think that we are feeding terrorists”, judged General Bruno Baratz, the commander of the French force Barkhane, questioned by France 24 on Wednesday in Niger, neighboring country of Mali and ally of France having accepted the maintenance of a French air base in Niamey.
"It's a bit insulting to the memory of our 59 comrades who fell fighting for Mali, and also to the memory of all the Malians who fought alongside us, but also the personnel of the Minusma, the African forces of the Minusma who fell while fighting against terrorism”, also specified the general to RFI.