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The French army accuses Russian mercenaries of trying to assault the soldiers of Operation Barkhane near the Gossi base in northern Mali. The staff denounced “an informational attack” when the keys to the base are officially handed over to the Malian armed forces.
l’French army filmed what she believed were Russian mercenaries bury bodies near the foot of Gossi, in the north of the Mali† According to the soldiers, these individuals were creating a mass grave from scratch with the aim of accusing the French of being responsible for it.
This matter comes as the French military announced, as part of its withdrawal from Mali in February, Officially handed over the keys to the Gossi base to the Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) on Tuesdaywhich housed 300 French soldiers.
The next day, in the evening, a message appears on Twitter. “An account, which we know to be false, of a person posing as a Malian soldier warns that images of corpses and a mass grave will be broadcast,” told France 24, Wassim Nasr, journalist at France 24. Ter Illustration: An image of the French armies.
On Thursday, April 21, the account actually posted a photo of blurry corpses buried in the sand, with the comment: “This is what the French left behind when they left the base at #Gossi (…) we can’t keep quiet about it!”
Today I’m going to talk to you @FRANCE 24 of a sordid history, a fledgling misinformation, corpses, sand, mercenaries and an institution that has decided it’s time to lay his cards on the table and show what he can see during the day…like the night pic.twitter.com/lvPkcDAiY0
— Wassim Nasr (@SimNasr) Apr 22, 2022
An “Information Attack”
“Except that the French armies captured the same scene with aerial photos. And in these images we do indeed see individuals filming the scene which is then published on social networks,” explains Wassim Nasr.
In this video, made with aerial equipment, to which France 24 had access and which the French General Staff describes as an “informative attack”, we can see white soldiers dealing with corpses they cover with sand.
“This is the first time that the French army has decided to release these normally confidential images to expose disinformation,” the journalist continued. “It’s a way of leading the way in showing the journey of this misinformation.”
The Twitter account “is most likely a fake account created by Wagner“, the Russian private military company estimates the French personnel.
“This maneuver to discredit the Barkhane force appears coordinated. It is representative of the many information attacks to which the French soldiers have been subjected over many months,” the staff continued.
Paris has decided to withdraw from Mali in a deteriorating security context and against a background of tensions between France and the military junta in power, accused by Westerners of using the services of the Wagner group. Bamako, in turn, calls on simple Russian advisers.
On Tuesday, staff had warned of informational attacks on the occasion of the delivery of the Gossi base. His spokesman, Colonel Pascal Ianni, had indicated that a “documented” inventory of the base had been prepared to protect France from possible accusations. An allusion to anti-French sentiment that has gained ground in the region and has made France the subject of smear campaigns on social networks. “A few months ago, French troops were accused of participating in human trafficking (…), of arming terrorists and even of abuse,” Colonel Ianni recalled.
Extortions perpetrated by the Wagner group?
The French army also believes that “the comparison of the photos published on Twitter and the images collected by the specialized sensor makes it possible to establish a direct link between what Wagner’s mercenaries are doing and what wrongly attributed to the French soldiers”. According to her, these “statements testify to the action methods of Wagner’s mercenaries, which have been observed since[his]deployment in the Central African Republic and have been denounced by many international organizations and NGOs”.
“Several massacres have been registered in central Mali since the beginning of March. According to witnesses, Wagner troops are systematically present,” said Wassim Nasr richly.
With AFP
