BAMAKO: A cargo plane has delivered four helicopters, weapons and ammunition from Russia to Mali, according to the military-led authorities in the West African country.
Interim Defence Minister Sadio Camara said late on Thursday Mali had acquired the aircraft in a contract agreed in December 2020 to support its armed forces in their battle, alongside French, European and United Nations troops, with fighters linked to ISIL (ISIS) and al-Qaeda.
“Mali bought these helicopters from the Russia Federation, a friendly country with which Mali has always maintained a very fruitful partnership,” he told local media on the tarmac after the plane landed in the capital, Bamako.
He added that the weapons and ammunition were gifts from Russia. The delivery comes at a moment of tense relations between Mali and its key military partner France over reports Bamako could recruit mercenaries from a shadowy Russian military group as Paris reshapes its military mission in the region.
Diplomatic and security sources have told news agencies Mali’s military-dominated govt is close to recruiting the controversial Wagner Group. France has launched a diplomatic drive to thwart it.
France, which has deployed more than 5,000 soldiers in the Sahel region under its Barkhane mission but has pledged a major troop drawdown, has warned Mali that hiring Wagner fighters would isolate the country internationally.–Agencies
