EU to halt military training operations in Mali
The European Union (EU) says it will suspend a military training program in Mali, citing concerns over what it alleges to be "interference" and civilian killings committed by Russian mercenaries in the African country.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Monday, “We are halting the training missions for the [Malian] armed forces and national guard.”
Borrell said that developments in Mali “have forced us to see there were not sufficient guarantees … on non-interference by the Wagner group” — a private Russian military organization that according to the West is operating in Mali as an armed force.
He also said that the Sahel region “remains a priority” for the EU.
“We're not giving up on the Sahel, far from it. We want to commit even more to that region,” he added.
Western governments allege that Moscow has provided material backing for the mercenaries.
Borrell made the remarks a week after France accused Malian soldiers and Wagner mercenaries of killing more than 200 civilians in an operation in the Malian village of Moura last month.
Russia says it has only supplied what it officially describes as military instructors to Mali.The Malian government also denied last year the presence of Russian mercenaries from the Wagner group in the West African country.
The EU is involved in two training missions in the African nation.
The first one – the EU Training Mission – had more than 1,000 members from 25 European countries training Malian soldiers until 2024, according to its website. The other, the EU Capacity Building Mission (EUCAP), focused on police coaching with a mandate expiring next year.
Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger are struggling to contain armed militants linked to al-Qaeda and Daesh, who control swathes of territory in the porous border area of the West African Sahel, a region larger than the size of Germany.
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