Mali: French force Barkhane announces the arrest of six suspects in Gossi

Barkhane patrol in Gossi in Mali (illustration).

RFI/Olivier Fourt

Text by: David Baché

2 mins

What happened in Gossi this Sunday, April 17, 2022?

Local sources denounce the kidnapping of several shepherds by the French force Barkhane who denied this Monday and brought his version of the facts.

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It would be five people, five shepherds, according to local sources, "

 " by the French Barkhane force on Sunday around 2 a.m. in Adiora.

A locality located about thirty kilometers

, in Gourma-Rharous, region of Timbuktu.

The French army, which is in the process of disengaging from this area, immediately reacted to this information posted on social networks.

According to the general staff of the armies, an anti-terrorist operation took place in Adiora, on the night of Saturday to Sunday, during which not five, but six suspects were arrested.

Interviews

“ 

 ”, indicates the staff, which specifies that the operation in question targeted fighters from the Katiba du Gourma, affiliated with the GSIM, the Support Group for Islam and Muslims. , linked to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.

And that this group would have been targeted in response to several attacks perpetrated against the French force

, without further details.

According to the procedure in force, the six suspects will be, depending on the conclusions of their interrogation, either released or handed over to the Malian authorities.

The French army does not report anyone injured or killed, either on one side or the other, during this operation. 

• Barkhane withdraws from Gossi

Only a hundred of them were still stationed in the Gossi basin.

This Tuesday at midday, these last soldiers of Barkhane therefore took the direction of Gao.

The Gossi base had been operational since September 2018.

This presence in the heart of Gourma made it possible to secure national road 16, a strategic axis, it was also very useful for launching operations in the area of ​​the three borders.

The vocation of the BOAT, the advanced operational base of Gossi, was to maintain permanent pressure on the armed groups, in particular on the GSIM.

The Barkhane force in Mali now boils down to two areas, the large base of Gao on the Niger River and that of Menaka in the Liptako.

In turn, they will be returned to the Fama within a few weeks.

The fight against armed terrorist groups will however continue, in particular from Niger, and the planned air base of Niamey, but with numbers that will be out of all proportion to those deployed in Mali.

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• mali

• France

• Defense

• al-Qaeda