US says Russia’s Wagner force eyes Mali as route for war supplies
Al JazeeraNov 26, 2022
The Facts
The US Treasury Department on Monday announced sanctions on three Malian officials, including the minister of defense, over accusations that they facilitated the deployment and expansion of the Russian Wagner Group's activities in the country.
The sanctioned officials, who were allegedly “instrumental" in Wagner’s entrenchment in Mali, are Defense Minister Colonel Sadio Camara, Air Force Chief of Staff Colonel Alou Boi Diarra, and Deputy Chief of Staff Lieutenant Colonel Adama Bagayoko.
The Spin
Anti-Russia narrative
Wherever Russia's Wagner mercenaries go, brutality soon follows. Wagner's moves in Africa have only made conflicts across the continent worse, and, in the case of Mali, have led to a massive increase in violence against civilians. International pressure must be applied against this mercenary force.
Pro-Russia narrative
Unfortunately for the West, the days of colonialism are over, and African countries are free to choose their international security partners. The Malian government had every right to ask for Wagner's intervention in the country's war against terrorism, and the US is once again showing its hubris by trying to disrupt that autonomous decision.
