Bamako, 5 August 2024 (TDI): Mali has cut diplomatic ties with Ukraine, after a military official suggested Kyiv had played a role in deadly fighting near the Algerian border in July.
Communiqué N°068 du 04 août 2024 du Gouvernement de la Transition suite aux propos subversifs du Porte-parole de l’Agence ukrainienne de renseignement militaire avouant l’implication de l’Ukraine dans l’attaque lâche, traitre et barbare de groupes armés terroristes à Tinzawatène. pic.twitter.com/Z3q2zsOPl9
— Ministère des Affaires étrangères du Mali (@MaliMaeci) August 4, 2024
Dozens of Malian soldiers and mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner group were killed in days of clashes with Tuareg separatist rebels and fighters associated with al-Qaeda.
Andriy Yusov, a spokesman for Ukrainian military intelligence, said last week that the rebels had been given the required information to conduct the attacks.
A top Malian official, Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga, said his government was shocked to hear the claim and accused Kyiv of violating Mali’s sovereignty.
Yusov’s statement admitted Ukraine’s involvement in a treacherous, cowardly, and barbaric attack by armed terrorist groups that had led to the deaths of Malian soldiers, Col Maiga’s said.
Mali has decided to break off ties “with immediate effect,” he added.
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Last week, Mali’s military admitted it had suffered major losses during several days of fighting earlier that started on 25 July .
The clashes occurred in the desert near Tinzaouaten, a northeastern town on the border with Algeria.
The Malian and Russian troops were ambushed by Tuareg rebels and fighters from al-Qaeda affiliate Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin while waiting for reinforcements, after retreating from Tinzaouaten.
Neither Mali’s military nor Wagner – which has since morphed into a group called the Africa Corps – have provided exact figures, but the estimated death toll for Wagner fighters ranges from twenty to eighty.
The Russian mercenary group’s losses are thought to be the heaviest it has suffered in Mali since it started helping the military government fight the insurgents two years ago.
Wagner has acknowledged that one of its commanders was killed and a Russian helicopter was downed in tough fighting”, saying they had been attacked by nearly 1,000 fighters.
Tuareg-led separatists claimed on Thursday they had killed 47 Malian soldiers and 84 Wagner mercenaries.
