As Moscow strives to increase its influence on the African continent in a political tug-of-war between world powers, Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, has promised support to West African states fighting armed groups.
During his maiden visit to Mali, Lavrov commended the partnership that Moscow and Bamako have developed in the battle against armed groups, which the top diplomat of Russia dubbed “historic.”
Lavrov said in a news conference in the capital, Bamako; “The fight against terrorism is, of course, an issue for the other countries in the region.
“We are going to provide our assistance to them to overcome these difficulties. This concerns Guinea, Burkina Faso and Chad and the Sahel region generally and even the coastal states on the Gulf of Guinea.”
In order to combat the armed revolt, Mali has long relied on France, an ex-colonial state, for military support. But last year, when hostilities with the military administration approached a breaking point, Paris withdrew troops from the country in West Africa.
To bolster its campaign against armed rebels since capturing power in 2020, Mali’s military government has imported Russian jets, helicopters, and paramilitaries.
The Russian agents, according to France, are Wagner mercenaries, a private military unit that Moscow has used in Syria and Ukraine, following experts.
Wagner and the Malian army have been accused of participating in an alleged massacre in Moura in central Mali last March in which several hundred people were apprehended and killed, according to Human Rights Watch and the United Nations.
The violence, which started in northern Mali in 2012 and has now expanded to the neighboring countries of Niger and Burkina Faso, is centered in this landlocked state.
In all three countries, thousands of civilians have perished, and millions have left their homes.
