Mali: HCUA accuses Barkhane of having killed one of its officers

A "Tiger" helicopter of the Barkhane force in Gao.

AFP Photos / Michele Cattani

Text by: David Baché

1 min

The High Council for the Unity of Azawad (HCUA) accuses the French force Barkhane of having committed another blunder.

This armed group from the North, signatory to the 2015 peace agreement, claims that one of its officers was killed by the French army, as well as a young man who accompanied him.

The facts allegedly took place on Saturday 11 December in the Kidal region.

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“ 

 According to Almou Ag Mohamed, spokesperson for the High Council for the Unity of Azawad (

), the strike took place on Saturday December 11 in Faghagh, about 70 kilometers from Kidal.

Eghlass Ag Babaye was driving, accompanied by a young man aged 16.

Both were returning from Tinzawatène, a border town between Mali and Algeria, where they had stayed to prepare for the HCUA congress, which is to be held in early January.

"Extrajudicial murder"

Eghlass Ag Babaye was not a simple fighter, adds the spokesperson for the HCUA, since he was a member of the Defense and Security subcommittee

. As such, this officer regularly participated in meetings of the Monitoring Committee in Bamako, and even had, according to the HCUA, direct contacts with the Barkhane force.

The HCUA and the CMA (Coordination of Azawad Movements), a coalition which brings together the former independentist rebels, express their “ 

 ” and denounce an “ 

 ”.

Did the French army really carry out the strike of which it is accused?

Was this HCUA cadre personally targeted?

Is this an error?

Asked by RFI, the French army has not yet followed up.

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