<p>Mali has accused France of violating its airspace and arming Islamist rebels in an effort to destabilise the West African nation.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Abdoulaye Diop, Mali's minister of foreign affairs, said in a letter to the head of the United Nations Security Council dated Monday that the country's airspace had been violated more than 50 times this year, largely by French forces using drones, military helicopters, and fighter jets.</p>

<p><strong>Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/international-community-is-ignoring-tigray-because-of-colour-of-the-skin-of-the-people-who-chief-507894" hreflang="en">International community is ignoring Tigray because of 'colour of the skin of the people': WHO chief</a></strong></p>

<p>The letter claims that these incursions were used to arm "terrorist groups".</p>

<p>However, Mali did not present any proof to support the claims.</p>

<p><strong>Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/anne-franks-diary-bible-and-several-other-books-pulled-from-the-shelves-in-texas-507899" hreflang="en">Bible, Anne Frank's diary, and several other books pulled from the shelves in Texas</a></strong></p>

<p>"These flagrant violations of Malian airspace were used by France to collect information for terrorist groups operating in the Sahel and to drop arms and ammunition to them."</p>

<p>The French Embassy in Mali responded by taking to Twitter, and saying that "France has obviously never supported, directly or indirectly, these terrorist groups, which remain its designated enemies across the planet."</p>

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
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<p dir="ltr" lang="fr">[𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃] 𝟏) 𝐋𝐚 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐞 𝐚𝐮 𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐢 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟑 𝐞𝐭 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟐 𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐬, 𝐚̀ 𝐥𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞́𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐬.</p>
— La France au Mali (@FranceauMali) <a href="https://twitter.com/FranceauMali/status/1559986029456756736?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 17, 2022</a></blockquote>
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<p>It claimed that during its nine-year campaign in Mali, 53 French soldiers had perished and that France had killed hundreds of Islamist fighters to increase security for Malians.&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>Watch |&nbsp;Al-Qaeda affiliate claims attack on key military base near Mali's capital</strong></p>

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<p>The allegations bring the relationship between the two nations to a new low as France withdraws its last troops from Mali.</p>

<p>When in 2013 French forces drove out Islamist extremists from the north of Mali, including the legendary city of Timbuktu, they were hailed as heroes.&nbsp;However, a slew of setbacks and continuous militant attacks have strained ties, which have gotten worse after a military coup ousted the government in 2020 followed by an interim civilian cabinet.</p>

<p><em>(With inputs from agencies)</em></p>

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Mali has accused France of violating its airspace and arming Islamist rebels in an effort to destabilise the West African nation. Abdoulaye Diop, Mali's minister of foreign affairs, said in a letter to the head of the United Nations Security Council dated Monday that the country's airspace had been violated more than 50 times this year, largely by French forces using drones, military helicopters, and fighter jets.

Mali has accused France of violating its airspace and arming Islamist rebels in an effort to destabilise the West African nation. Abdoulaye Diop, Mali's minister of foreign affairs, said in a letter to the head of the United Nations Security Council dated Monday that the country's airspace had been violated more than 50 times this year, largely by French forces using drones, military helicopters, and fighter jets. Also read | International community is ignoring Tigray because of 'colour of the skin of the people': WHO chief The letter claims that these incursions were used to arm "terrorist groups". However, Mali did not present any proof to support the claims. Also read | Bible, Anne Frank's diary, and several other books pulled from the shelves in Texas "These flagrant violations of Malian airspace were used by France to collect information for terrorist groups operating in the Sahel and to drop arms and ammunition to them." The French Embassy in Mali responded by taking to Twitter, and saying that "France has obviously never supported, directly or indirectly, these terrorist groups, which remain its designated enemies across the planet." [𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃] 𝟏) 𝐋𝐚 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐞 𝐚𝐮 𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐢 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟑 𝐞𝐭 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟐 𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐬, 𝐚̀ 𝐥𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞́𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐬. — La France au Mali (@FranceauMali) August 17, 2022 × It claimed that during its nine-year campaign in Mali, 53 French soldiers had perished and that France had killed hundreds of Islamist fighters to increase security for Malians. Watch | Al-Qaeda affiliate claims attack on key military base near Mali's capital The allegations bring the relationship between the two nations to a new low as France withdraws its last troops from Mali. When in 2013 French forces drove out Islamist extremists from the north of Mali, including the legendary city of Timbuktu, they were hailed as heroes. However, a slew of setbacks and continuous militant attacks have strained ties, which have gotten worse after a military coup ousted the government in 2020 followed by an interim civilian cabinet. (With inputs from agencies) Watch WION LIVE HERE: You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Mali accuses France of arming Islamic terrorists seeking to destabilise nation

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Mali accuses France of arming Islamic terrorists seeking to destabilise nation

India at UNSC expresses concern over terror acts by Boko Haram, IS in West Africa