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Tuareg rebels have demanded the withdrawal of Russian mercenaries from Mali following coordinated attacks launched in various parts of the West African country in collaboration with the insurgent group JNIM.
Tuareg rebels, a separatist group, had, over the weekend, attacked military bases in Mali, including the capital, Bamako. The group captured Kidal and killed the country’s defence minister, Sadio Camara.
The spokesperson for the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, told AFP that the group wants Russian forces to permanently retreat from Mali.
“Our objective is for Russia to withdraw permanently from Azawad and beyond, from all of Mali,” said Ramadane.
“We have no particular problem with Russia, nor with any other country. Our problem is with the regime that governs Bamako.”
Ramadane added that the Tuareg rebels view Russia’s intervention in Mali negatively.
“It supported people who committed serious crimes and massacres,” he said.
Paramilitary fighters from the Russian-controlled Africa Corps, who were deployed to assist the Malian military government, had been forced to withdraw from Kidal.
Ramadane said the Russians asked for a secure corridor to withdraw.
“The Russians found themselves in danger. There was no way out. Surrounded on all sides, they asked us to find them a solution. When they realised they could not hold out against our forces and our firepower, they requested these withdrawals,” he said.
“In all the confrontations we had with the Russians, we won them all,” he claimed.
Ramadane vowed that the ruling junta would eventually collapse.
“The regime will fall, sooner or later,” he said, adding that the rebels now intend to take control of Gao, Timbuktu and Menaka following the capture of Kidal.
