March 17 (EUROPA PRESS) –
Mali’s military junta has reported this Thursday that it has received a delivery of around 20 military aircraft and several drones from Russia and Turkey.
In a press conference after the handover ceremony attended by the leader of the junta and current transitional president, Assimi Goita, as well as Russian and Turkish diplomats, the head of the Mali Air Force, Alou Boi Diarra confirmed shipment, according to LSI Africa.
A reporter from the aforementioned medium has reported that in the place where the announcement was made, on a runway at the Bamako airport, the capital, there were five military planes and four drones.
The Albatros L-39 model aircraft are of Czech design and are used as attack aircraft, although their original role was as training aircraft. Added to these planes are the Turkish Bayraktar-TB2 model drones, which, according to the Malian Defense Minister, Colonel Sadio Camara, have declared that they are capable of carrying out monitoring and surveillance operations, and will be used to improve the precision of attacks. aerial.
This shipment follows another of a similar caliber in January, when Russia sent military planes and helicopters to the country, which meant a new rapprochement for Mali with its new ally, after the distance with France.
Mali and the rest of the Sahel countries have experienced an upsurge in violence, both jihadist at the hands of groups linked to Al Qaeda and the Islamic State, and inter-communal in nature, which has led France and the G5 Sahel countries — that the Malian junta abandoned in 2022– to ramp up its operations.
