BERLIN, Jan 19 (Reuters) – Malian authorities banned a German military plane carrying 75 soldiers from flying over the country on Wednesday night, forcing the plane to divert to Gran Canaria, the German Defense Minister said.
A spokesman for the minister said the transport plane was en route to a logistics base in Niamey, Niger, from an airbase in Germany.
Berlin has deployed some 1,200 soldiers in Mali and must decide by the end of May whether or not to extend its military mission, which relies on its Niamey logistics base.
Like France in particular, Germany has expressed its concern over recent developments in Mali, where mercenaries from the private Russian group Wagner have arrived, while the authorities in place since the 2020 coup have pushed back the holding of elections originally scheduled for next month. (Report Sabine Siebold; French version Jean Terzian)