The French army has allegedly filmed Russian mercenaries burying bodies near the Gossi base in northern Mali to accuse the French of leaving a mass grave behind. In this video, taken with a drone to which AFP had access on Thursday April 21, and which the French General Staff calls an “information attack,” we see Caucasian soldiers scurrying around corpses, which they cover with sand.
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The Twitter account posted pictures of a man named Dia Darra, who describes himself as a “former soldier” and “Malian patriot”. A photo of blurred bodies buried in the sand was published on this account, with the comment: “This is what the French left behind when they left the base in #Gossi (…) we can’t keep quiet about that!” . The Dia Diarra account “is most likely a fake account created by Wagner,” the Russian private military company, the French collaborator estimates. “This maneuver to discredit Barkhane forces appears to be coordinated. It is representative of the numerous information attacks that the French military has been subjected to for many months.
The French Army also believes that “comparing the photos published on Twitter and the images collected by the specialized sensor can establish a direct link between what Wagner’s mercenaries are doing and what is attributed to the French soldiers”. According to her, “these demands testify to the behavior of Wagner’s mercenaries, who have been observed and denounced by many international organizations and NGOs since (his) deployment in the Central African Republic”.
The Wagner group in the crosshairs
As part of its withdrawal from Mali announced in February, the French army on Tuesday officially handed over the keys of the Gossi base, which housed 300 French soldiers, to the Malian Armed Forces (FAMa). Paris in February decided its military withdrawal from Mali in a deteriorated security context and against the backdrop of tensions between France and the military junta in power, which Westerners have accused of using the Wagner Group’s services. For his part, Bamako conjures up humble Russian advisers.
On Tuesday, the staff warned of information attacks on the occasion of the handover of the Gossi base. His spokesman, Colonel Pascal Ianni, had specified that a “documented” inventory of the base had been drawn up to protect France from possible accusations. A nod to the anti-French sentiment that has been gaining ground in the region, making France the subject of hate campaigns on social media. “A few months ago, the French armed forces were accused of involvement in human trafficking (…), arming terrorists and even abuse,” Colonel Ianni recalled.