The international community is focusing on a January 3rd airstrike carried out in Mali by French military forces. Specifically, the airstrike operation occurred in Bounti, central Mali. The targets were an alleged group of radical Islamist armed forces, yet the actual casualties were were 19 civilians, none of whom held any connections to the Islamist group. Neighboring villagers claim that the victims were attending a local wedding at the time of the airstrike. If these claims prove true then the airstrikes would be deemed illegal, but the French military has categorically denied this.What’s more, the French government has also refused to investigate the airstrike and backed up its military forces by officially reaffirming that their military committed “no errors throughout the operation.” However, public opinion suggests that the French government should be more cautious in denying these reports.
On February 16th, the European Court of Human Rights ruled against the International Security Forces (ISAF) of NATO in a similar 2009 incident in Kunduz, Afghanistan. On that occasion, and just like in Bounti, a group of German troops called on ISAF to deploy an airstrike on two fuel tankers. According to German intelligence, the tankers belonged to Taliban fighters. Unfortunately, many residents, including many children, had congregated around the vehicles to drain some fuel from the tankers.
The consequences of this airstrike were disastrous. According to the UN, the bombardment murdered at least 74 civilians, many of whom were children. Both NATO and the German government have attempted to impede the investigation continually since the incident, but the recent court decision has led to reparations finally being paid to the families of those affected by the airstrike. France should look back to the German military’s and ISAF’s mistakes and not repeat their actions. The international community urges France to assume responsibility for its actions and institute a proper investigative commission to determine exactly what happened on January 3rd The truth of this incident requires clarification immediately.
To learn more, please read:
https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/03/11/lessons-french-forces-mali-0
Author: Sergio Gomez; Editor: Xavier Atkins
