The Russian plane crashed near Gao on Tuesday.
A Russian pilot was killed Tuesday in Mali in the accident of his plane, recently delivered to the Malian army, which crashed near Gao, said a military official on condition of anonymity.
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The staff confirmed in a brief statement on social networks that a plane had crashed around 9:30 a.m. (local and GMT) near Gao airport. on return from a mission carried out in support of civilian populations “. The staff did not say anything about possible victims. Neither he nor the military official at the Gao command spoke about the reasons for the crash.
A video provided by a witness to AFP shows an aircraft descending at high speed and low altitude and going to crash in the distance in a plume of smoke.
The staff spoke of a Sukhoi Su-25, while the military official had previously identified the plane as an Albatros L-39. The official had indicated that the plane was among the ” new acquisitions of the Malian army.
Soviet-designed Sukhoi S-25 ground attack and close support aircraft and L-39 Albatross, a Czechoslovak-designed aircraft originally intended for training but often used as a fighter, were among the equipment delivered in August by Russia to the Malian army.
rapprochement with Russia
In March, then in August, Mali had received new military equipment delivered by its Russian partner, including combat planes and helicopters.
The colonels who took power by force in August 2020 in this country in the midst of security turmoil have decided to separate from the old French ally engaged militarily against the jihadists since 2013 and to vigorously relaunch cooperation with Russia.
Mali has welcomed in large numbers what the junta presents as Russian instructors.
France and its partners denounce for their part the use of the junta to the services of the private Russian security company Wagner, the decried actions. The junta denies and speaks of a former partnership with the Russian army.
Russia had admitted in May a presence of Wagner in Mali “ on a commercial basis “.
Mali has been in turmoil since 2012. The jihadist spread, initially confined to the north of the country, has spread to central and southern Mali, as well as to neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger.
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