Mali's junta cuts military ties with France

BAMAKO (Mali) • Mali's ruling junta has announced that it is ending its defence accords with former colonial ruler France, condemning "flagrant violations" of its national sovereignty by the French troops there.

Monday's announcement - the latest of several over the past few weeks - confirmed the deteriorating relations between the junta in Mali and France.

"For some time now, the government of the Republic of Mali notes with regret a profound deterioration in military cooperation with France," spokesman Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga said in a televised statement.

He cited multiple instances of French forces violating the country's airspace. He referred to the June 2021 decision by France to end joint operations with Malian forces. And he mentioned France's decision taken in February to pull out its troops from Mali.

The Malian authorities said they informed Paris of the decision on Monday. France has not so far issued an official reaction to the junta's announcement.

Tensions between France and the junta in Mali, which seized power in August 2020, had been rising for some time. The agreements Mali ended had set the framework for France's intervention in 2014. They were signed a year after French troops deployed a large force to help Mali's armed forces stop a militant offensive there.

France's relationship with Mali cooled as the junta resisted international pressure to set a timetable for a swift return to democratic, civilian rule.

Paris has also objected to the regime's rapprochement with the Kremlin. Both France and the United States have accused mercenaries from the Kremlin-linked security firm Wagner of deploying in Mali, where the junta claims the Russians are just military instructors helping to restore order.

Vast swathes of Mali lie beyond government control because of the insurgency, which began in 2012. The military junta seized power in the impoverished and landlocked Sahel state following protests over the government's handling of the war against the militants. The conflict led to thousands of military and civilian deaths and forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE