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French defence minister warns Mali against Russian 'mercenary' firm
By Daphne Benoit
Bamako (AFP) Sept 21, 2021

Four Malian troops killed in bomb blast
Bamako (AFP) Sept 20, 2021 - Four Malian soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in the centre of the country early Monday, the military said, in the latest attack in the war-torn Sahel state.

In a statement, the army said that a military ambulance struck an improvised explosive device (IED) as it was conducting an evacuation in the volatile Mopti region in central Mali.

Four soldiers were killed in the attack, it added, citing a provisional death toll.

A military source said the ambulance had been carrying an officer who had been wounded in an earlier attack near Mopti's regional capital.

Mali has been struggling to contain an Islamist insurgency that first erupted in 2012, and which has claimed thousands of military and civilian lives.

Despite the presence of thousands of French and UN troops, the conflict has engulfed the centre of the country and spread to neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.

Central Mali has become one of the epicentres of the Sahel-wide conflict, where ethnic killings and attacks on government forces are frequent.

On September 12, five Malian soldiers were killed in a jihadist ambush in central Mali, according to the army.

Laying roadside bombs -- or IEDs -- is a common tactic of jihadist groups in the region.

France's defence minister has warned Mali that hiring paramilitaries from Russian private-security firm Wagner would isolate the country internationally, during a visit to the Sahel state.

Florence Parly told reporters on Monday that if Mali hired the firm, at a time when international partners fighting jihadism in the Sahel "had never been so numerous, such a choice would be that of isolation".

Parly's meeting with her Malian counterpart Colonel Sadio Camara follows a previous warning to Bamako from its former colonial power last week, after reports that Mali's army-dominated government was close to hiring 1,000 Wagner paramilitaries.

The Russian company is considered close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and has been accused of committing abuses.

A Malian defence ministry official, who requested anonymity, told AFP that Camara had assured Parly that no decision had been made.

The minister explained that France's "abandonment" of Mali meant "everything had to be considered to secure the country," the official said.

France, which has thousands of troops stationed in the war-torn country, has pledged a major troop drawdown across the Sahel.

Parly responded that France was not abandoning Mali, the official added.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, speaking after talks among European foreign ministers at the United Nations, also warned against doing business with the Wagner Group, which he said was trying to expand its reach.

"Certainly this would not help our relation with the Mali government," Borrell said.

- 'Mercenaries' -

Parly's visit follows months of tense relations between France and Mali, exacerbated by two military coups in the space of one year.

France is concerned about military strongman Colonel Assimi Goita's commitment to hold swift elections to return Mali to civilian rule.

Paris' plan to reduce troop numbers across the Sahel, with several French army bases in northern Mali set to close by early 2022, is also a source of friction.

Before meeting Camara on Monday, Parly told journalists: "We will not be able to cohabit with mercenaries".

Russian paramilitaries, private-security instructors and companies have grown increasingly influential in Africa in recent years, particularly in the conflict-ridden Central African Republic (CAR), where the United Nations has accused Wagner contractors of committing abuses.

Last week, UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix insisted that any partnership between Mali and Wagner had to be "carried out in full respect for human rights".

The UN has 13,000 peacekeepers in Mali.

Germany, which also has troops in the country, has warned Bamako it will reconsider its deployment should the government strike a deal with Wagner.

- Political turmoil -

Already battling a jihadist insurgency, Mali slid into political turmoil last year, culminating in a military coup in August 2020 against president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.

Under the threat of sanctions, the military then appointed an interim civilian government tasked with steering the country back to democratic rule.

But Goita overthrew the leaders of that interim government in May -- in a second putsch -- and was later declared interim president himself, drawing international condemnation.

French President Emmanuel Macron announced his troop reductions in July in the aftermath of the second coup.

Goita has pledged to respect a February 2022 deadline for civilian elections set by the previous interim government.

But rampant insecurity in Mali, which has left swathes of the country outside of government control, has cast doubt on the reform timetable.


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Nigerian troops rescue officer seized from military academy
Kano, Nigeria (AFP) Sept 18, 2021
Nigerian troops have rescued an army officer kidnapped last month from an elite military academy in the restive northwest, the army said late Friday. An armed gang stormed the Nigeria Defence Academy (NDA), the country's heavily guarded military academy in the city of Kaduna on August 24, killing two officers and abducting another, in a daring attack that shocked the authorities. Northwest and central Nigeria have been plagued by criminal gangs known locally as bandits who raid villages, kidnapp ... read more

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