Help Mali Fight ISIS And Al-Qaeda, Russia Sends Four Helicopters, Weapons And Ammunition

JAKARTA - A cargo plane delivered four helicopters, weapons and ammunition from Russia to Mali late Thursday, Mali's Interim Defense Minister Sadio Camara said.

He said Mali had purchased helicopters in a contract agreed in December 2020 to support its armed forces in their battles alongside French, European and UN forces with rebels linked to ISIS and Al-Qaeda.

"Mali buys these helicopters from the Russian Federation, a friendly country that has always maintained a very fruitful partnership with Mali," he told local media on the tarmac after the plane landed in the capital Bamako, adding that weapons and ammunition were provided by Russia. October

The delivery comes at a time when Mali has ties with its main military partner, France, over the country's plans to recruit Russian mercenaries. Meanwhile, Paris itself is reshaping its 5,000-strong counter-terrorism mission in the region.

Diplomatic and security sources told Reuters Mali's one-year-old military junta was close to recruiting mercenaries from Russia's private military contractor, the Wagner Group.

This led France to take diplomatic steps to thwart the plan, arguing that such an arrangement was incompatible with France's continued presence.

Separately, citing Al-Jazeera, last week Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Mali was approaching private Russian companies to improve security in the conflict-torn country, adding the Kremlin was not involved in the matter.

Lavrov's comments came after EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned the bloc's relations with Mali could be seriously affected if it allowed Wagner's contractors to operate in the country.

Last Saturday, Mali's interim Prime Minister Choguel Maiga said Paris was leaving Bamako in a speech at the United Nations. Responding to these accusations for the first time, President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday questioned the legitimacy of the Malian authorities overseeing the transition to elections, after two coups in just over a year.

"What the Malian prime minister said is unacceptable. This is a disgrace. And it does not respect what is not even a government," he told Radio France International.