Malian Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla Maga has called the US sanctions against the defence minister, air force chief of staff, and his deputy a “distraction” and declared his “total support” for the security chiefs.

He said in a tweet, “The sanctions against our valiant officers, Defence Minister Col Sadio Camara, Gen Alou Boi Diarra, Col Adama Bagayoko, have no objectives other than to distract the Malian people. Nothing will distract us from the work of rebuilding Mali.”

Recall that the US Treasury imposed sanctions on the three security chiefs including the defence minister for “facilitating” the expansion of Russia’s Wagner Group in Mali.

Russia and Mali have both said that Russian fighters in the African country are not mercenaries, but rather trainers assisting local troops in fighting a decade-long insurgency by extremists.

Wagner has fought in Libya, Syria, the Central African Republic, Mali, and other nations, as well as the deadliest battles of Ukraine’s 16-month old conflict.

Washington has previously imposed sanctions on Wagner and has repeatedly warned of what it called Wagner’s destabilizing activities.

In June, the White House also accused the leader of the mercenary force, Yevgeny Prigozhin, of assisting in the eventual expulsion of the UN forces from Mali.

News agencies