German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock warned Wednesday that European forces would not cooperate with Mali's military while it maintained links to Russia, during a visit to the conflict-torn Sahel state.<\/p>\n
At a news conference in the capital Bamako, Baerbock said she feared \"massive war crimes\" were being committed against Malian civilians, which she suggested followed a pattern used by Russian forces in Syria and Ukraine.<\/p>\n
Russia has supplied what are officially described as military instructors to Mali.<\/p>\n
But the United States, France, and others, say the instructors are operatives from the Russian private-security firm Wagner.<\/p>\n
The shadowy organisation has long been suspected to be the Kremlin's paramilitary arm.<\/p>\n
The alleged presence of Wagner operatives, as well as delayed elections, has driven a wedge between the country's army-dominated government and Western countries.<\/p>\n
On Monday, the EU decided to halt its military training mission in Mali citing insufficient guarantees from Mali over Wagner.<\/p>\n
Baerbock said during Wednesday's news conference: \"We cannot continue the cooperation without demarcation from the Russian forces\".<\/p>\n
Some 300 German soldiers participate in the European Union Training Mission in Mali.<\/p>\n
However, Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop suggested that Baerbock was unfairly comparing events in Mali and Ukraine.<\/p>\n
\"We must not confuse things,\" he said, adding that Mali was not involved in the war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n
Diop added that Mali's foreign partners should respect the country's choices.<\/p>\n
An impoverished nation of 21 million people, Mali has over the past decade been wracked by Islamist violence. Swathes of the country are in thrall to myriad rebel groups and militias.<\/p>\n
Thousands of soldiers and civilians have been killed and hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes.<\/p>\n
Mali's under-equipped army has also often been accused of committing abuses during the brutal conflict.<\/p>\n
Three Germans suspected of \"terrorism\" in Mali were released meanwhile, a German government spokesman said Wednesday, amid Baerbock's visit.<\/p>\n
- Alleged massacre -<\/p>\n
There are allegations that Malian troops -- in coordination with foreign fighters -- massacred hundreds of civilians in late March, for example.<\/p>\n
Mali's army said on April 1 that it had killed 203 militants during a military operation in Moura in the centre of the country. However, the announcement followed social media reports of a civilian massacre in the town.<\/p>\n
Human Rights Watch later released a report alleging that Malian troops accompanied by white, non-French-speaking foreign fighters killed about 300 civilians in Moura.<\/p>\n
Mali, which has been governed by a military junta since a coup in 2020, has opened an investigation into the affair.<\/p>\n
The army-dominated government regularly defends the rights record of the military, however. It has also repeatedly denied hiring Wagner operatives.<\/p>\n
\"Mali has a state-to-state relationship with Russia,\" Foreign Minister Diop said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The country's ruling junta also sparked international anger after reneging on a promise to stage elections in February this year.<\/p>\n
West Africa bloc ECOWAS has imposed sanctions on Mali, including a trade embargo, over the delayed return to civilian rule.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock warned Wednesday that European forces would not cooperate with Mali's military while it maintained links to Russia, during a visit to the conflict-torn Sahel state. At a news conference in the capital Bamako, Baerbock said she feared \"massive war crimes\" were being committed against Malian civilians, which she suggested followed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553,1],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-90754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed","category-non-classifiee"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n