Mass grave of Gossi in Mali: the French army refutes the Malian accusations
Images provided by the French army showing the burial of the bodies and the presence of militiamen from the Wagner group.
© French Armies
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
Last week, the French army revealed the staging of a mass grave in Gossi and accuses Wagner's Russians of being behind the operation.
The Malian government reacted violently on Wednesday, April 27, accusing the French army of espionage, subversion or even of having violated Malian airspace.
These arguments were again refuted by France.
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The French general staff judges the accusations of Bamako “
doubtful
”.
According to his spokesman, Colonel Pascal Ianni, the army had the right to deploy a drone in the area.
“
The French forces which are deployed in Mali are deployed within the framework of a stationing agreement for the Serval force which dates from March 2013 and which provides in its article 5 for freedom of movement, freedom of movement for the French forces and at no time have we been guilty of violations or espionage activity vis-à-vis the Malians.
»
►
To read also: In Gossi, staging of a mass grave to discredit the French army
The information war continues.
Yesterday, the French general staff released photos of white soldiers doing sports in the Gossi camp.
New proof, according to Paris, of the presence of Wagner.
And if a new disinformation campaign is launched, Pascal Ianni believes that the staff is ready to respond to it.
“
We constantly face disinformation actions, smear campaigns and our main weapon is transparency and showing through images.
If necessary, we will declassify information relating to military intelligence to demonstrate our good faith and above all to counter all these adversaries who unduly attack the French armies.
»
In the meantime, the standoff remains intense.
This Friday, the government extended the Temporary Prohibited Zone (ZIT) that it had created on April 14.
Any overflight is supposed to be prohibited above this long region of more than 1000 km.
From now on, it includes Gossi and gets closer to Gao.
A ZIT whose objective, according to Paris, would be above all to allow the deployment of the Wagner group, far from foreign eyes.
►
To read also: Mali: how to continue to listen to RFI and watch France 24?
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