From Le Figaro with AFP
Posted 11 minutes ago
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A Malian army IL-76 plane crashed while landing in Gao last Saturday with men from the Russian mercenary group on board.
The military junta does not communicate, but the images speak for themselves. A video of the crash of a Malian army transport plane in Gao in northern Mali on Saturday, September 23rd has been circulating on social networks since Wednesday. We see the plane, a Russian-made IL-76, land and then continue on its crazy course until it leaves the runway. It disappears in a cloud of dust and then explodes.
The plane belonged to the Malian army and was specifically transporting soldiers from the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, as we learned on Sunday from military sources and emergency services. No official figures were given on the number of casualties, but the number of human and material casualties was high, an airport and diplomatic source said, without providing further details on the number of casualties.
“The crashed plane belongs to the Malian army and I confirm that the plane was on a mission to Gao with partners,” a Malian military official told AFP. “Investigators returned to the field on Sunday. On Saturday evening, injured whites were transported by another plane to an unknown destination,” assured a source at the airport. “When the survivors arrived in Gao yesterday, there were almost only Russian Wagner soldiers there,” said a source close to the firefighters.
Bilateral cooperation with Russia
The causes of the accident are not known, but a spokesman for the Bundeswehr, which is still present in Gao as part of the United Nations mission in Mali (Minusma), said that the accident aircraft was a “Russian-built IL- 76 model”. The Gao military airport is used by both the Malian army and its Russian partners and Minusma.
The junta in power in Mali ousted the French anti-jihadist force in 2022 and the UN force in 2023 to turn militarily and politically towards Russia. She says she has used the services of “trainers” as part of bilateral cooperation with Russia and denies the presence of Wagner, although the presence of the Russian security group is often assumed by other actors operating in Mali.
This crash occurred amid growing tensions between the various armed actors in the region and the Malian army. Since August, the Timbuktu and Gao regions have been the scene of a series of attacks on army positions and civilians. The army and armed groups are vying for control of the area as Minusma retreats.
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