Mali Protesters Call For French Troops To Leave

Activists in Mali have staged a protest against French military presence in Bamako, calling for the total withdrawal of French troops from the country with some waving Russian flags and holding banners, calling for greater cooperation between Mali and Russia.

The demonstration organised by political fringe group ‘Yerewolo Debouts sur les remparts’ was relatively subdued. Numbers were lower than organisers had hoped for after heavy rains earlier in the day.

The demonstration came as Germany’s defence minister announced that 12 German troops and a soldier from another country were wounded following an attack on soldiers taking part in a United Nations mission in Mali.

The U.N. mission in the country, MINUSMA, had earlier said that 15 peacekeepers were wounded when a temporary operational base in the Gao region was targeted with a vehicle bomb.

German y has hundreds of troops taking part in U.N. stabilization and European Union training missions in the West African nation.

according toPape Diallo, spokesman for protest platform ‘Yerewolo – Debout sur Les Remparts’, Germany is being manipulated by the French, adding that they came with good intentions but now find themselves inside the Machiavellian schemes of France,”.

Mali has been trying to contain an Islamic extremist insurgency since 2012.

A military coup last year in Mali has complicated matters further, and the junta’s leaders have faced criticism from France and the African Union