PRESS RELEASE
The Niger junta has cut diplomatic relations with Ukraine citing remarks by officials, alleging Kyiv’s support for the Mali separatist group’s attacks that killed dozens of Malian troops and Russian Wagner soldiers in July.
Tuesday’s decision by Niger followed a similar move by Mali on Sunday to sever ties with Ukraine following comments attributed to Kyiv’s military spy agency about the 25-27 July fighting in northern Mali.
The Tuareg armed rebels fighting for the independence of Azawad in northern Mali claimed that they killed some 84 Wagner mercenaries and 47 Malian soldiers in the fighting.
A Niger junta spokesman Abdourahamane Amadou said on state television Tuesday night that Niamey “decided to act in solidarity with the government and people of Mali by cutting ties with Ukraine with immediate effect.”
Ukraine has denied any involvement in the July attacks in northern Mali. It was yet to respond to Niger’s decision, but has described the severance of ties by Mali as “hasty and short-sighted.”
Following the July attacks, the government of Senegal summoned Ukraine’s Ambassador in Dakar to denounce a social media post by Kyiv’s Embassy in Dakar over the Mali attacks.
In a statement on Monday, the ECOWAS Commission condemned the attacks and expressed the regional bloc’s “sincere condolences to the Government and People of the Republic of Mali, as well as the families of the victims.”
This was seen as a mark of solidarity with Mali, which along with Burkina Faso and Niger has formed an Alliance of Sahel States following their decision to withdraw from ECOWAS.
The ECOWAS statement made no mention of Wagner forces, but it however, expressed “its firm disapproval and strong condemnation of any foreign interference that may pose a threat to peace and security in West Africa, and any attempt to drag the region into clashes on geopolitical issues.”
Meanwhile, in its statement issued on Tuesday from Kidal, northern Mali, the Tuareg’s political-military wing, CSP-DPA criticised Senegal and ECOWAS for “condemning the attack against the Malian armed forces” without adequate information.
Stating its willingness “to provide more information” on the July fighting “to any state or organization that wishes it,” the statement said “The CSP-DPA regrets the silence of the international community, particularly that of African states and organizations in the face of the serious crimes committed against civilians by international mercenaries employed by the Bamako putschists.”
“…by refraining from condemning the ethnic cleansing deliberately carried out by the Bamako junta and Wagner/Russian mercenaries against targeted communities in Azawad and central Mali, the States and organizations that condemn (CSP-DPA) actions in self-defence are unequivocally giving moral support to Wagner’s presence in the Sahel and, by extension, a blank cheque to the extra-judicial executions of unarmed population,” the statement said.
“The CSP-DPA expects Senegal, ECOWAS and all those who want to campaign for peace and social justice to work to put out the fire between the people of Azawad and the Bamako junta in order to save the lives of innocent civilians, failing which, to refrain from making statements with partisan connotations.
“Needless to say, the CSP-DPA went to war against the coalition forces of the Malian junta army and the Russian mercenaries of the Wagner group after they had driven out (the UN Mission) MINUSMA, violated the Agreement for Peace and National Reconciliation resulting from the Algiers process before declaring its lapse by attacking its positions,” the statement continued.
“To the brother-country of Senegal, a State of an inspiring democracy and which had the merit of contributing to MINUSMA with senior military and political officials, we ask for a better analysis of the situation in order to avoid contributing to the (preconceived notion) to the detriment of peace in the sub-region,” the statement added.
It reminded “ECOWAS that it would be more in its role to force the Bamako junta to a rapid return to constitutional order, to release political prisoners and prisoners of conscience and to rid the country of the mercenaries of the Wagner group, instead of supporting the junta in its contempt for democracy, denial of freedom and violation of human rights.”
