Malian soldiers ‘killed during French raid’

BAMAKO: An anti-terrorist raid by French forces at the end of last month left 11 imprisoned Malian soldiers dead, military sources said Sunday.

The incident occurred in the northeastern Kidal region on Oct 23-24, after the Malian military had received proof that their soldiers, who had been captured by jihadists, were still alive.

After what appears to be a botched raid, however, they were dead, a defence ministry official said, adding that officials had been in touch with the French military.

Pictures of the soldiers’ corpses confirmed the nature of their death.

A second Malian military source said there had definitely been a French raid.

“Malian soldiers captured by the jihadists between July 2016 and March 2017 were killed,” added the same source.

Under the name Operation Barkhane, France maintains a 4,000-man mission in the region to shore up fragile Sahel countries against jihadists who have carried out bloody bombings, shootings and kidnappings.

After the October raid, the French military reported that “an armed terrorist group affiliated with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (Aqim) was disabled and 15 jihadists killed by the French army in northern Mali”.

Malian newspapers and online media this week reported that French authorities have acknowledged the ‘blunder’ to Malian authorities, including the Ministry of Defence.