For the UN, it was mainly civilians who were killed on January 3 in the Barkhane strike near Bounti. The spokesman for Antonio Gutteres, the UN Secretary-General, expressed his concern about respect for the precautionary principle. In Paris, the Ministry of Defense and the military claim that Barkhane hit terrorists.
as reported from Bamako, Serge Daniel
The visit to Malide Florence Parly had been planned for a long time. She also arrives in Bamako with at least two representatives of countries that have their troops in northern Mali, as part of the fight against terrorism. But it is clear that the UN report on the French strike in the city of Bounti will be among the topics on the table.
At this point, Paris and Bamako have quite the same wavelength. Shortly after Barkhane’s intervention, in this Malian village of Bounti, a press release from the Malian army supported the French dissertation. It is really jihadists who have been targeted. The French Minister will therefore defend this version of the facts here.
We have a UN report, to which we have contributed, which provides no evidence, only testimony. Testimonies about which we do not know the origin and which we do not know under what conditions they were collected, especially about the people who testified have allegiance to terrorist groups or foreign powers.
Hervé Grandjean, spokesman for the Armed Forces during the Bounty strike
19 civilians killed according to the UN report
But the report from the UN Human Rights Department say something else. The strike targeted about 100 civilians, who attended a wedding ceremony, 19 civilians were killed, according to the same report, which adds, however: 5 suspected armed jihadists were also present at the scene, three of whom were killed.
The Minusma report is unequivocal. There is no doubt that it was a mistake at Bounty. Minusma even declares that it is contrary to international humanitarian law because the principles of difference, necessity and proportion have not been respected by the French army.
Ousmane Diallo, researcher for Amnesty International, on the French strike at Bounty
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