Mali’s military junta receives Bayraktar drones from Türkiye. A threat to Ecowas?
Mali's Armed Forces held a welcoming ceremony for another batch of Turkish-made Baykar Bayraktar TB2 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on January 4, as reported by Jane's .
Media coverage of the event showed five TB2s, some of them armed with MAM-L laser-guided bombs, lined up on the apron next to the presidential pavilion at Bamako's Modibo Keita International Airport. The military released a photograph showing one of them with the serial number TZ-17D.
Previously, FAMa had exhibited TB2 with series ranging from TZ-01D to TZ-06D, so the latest reception ceremony seems to have brought the number of examples delivered to Mali to at least 17, assuming that the one shown is the last serial number.
The TB2s have become famous in Mali because the TV channel ORTM often broadcasts footage released by FAMa showing the UAVs carrying out airstrikes, supposedly against terrorists, although there have been accusations of killing civilians. At the same time, this demonstration of strength by the Mali junta also serves to convince pro-Western neighbors or those not governed by military juntas, such as the ECOWAS countries, that the country's armed forces also have weapons capable of countering a possible armed force. who wanted to overthrow the ruling junta of the country.
Air Force Chief of Staff Brigadier General Alou Boï Diarra highlighted the celebrity of UAVs in his speech during the reception ceremony on January 4, saying that Malians are proud that their country has such sophisticated systems. He also cautioned that drones must not overshadow the difficult work Malian soldiers are doing on the ground.
We recall that at the height of the crisis over the coup d'état in Niger, ECOWAS, the organization of West African countries, had threatened to send a military force to put the legitimate government back in charge, but Burkina Faso and Mali had stated who would have intervened militarily on their neighbor's side. In December, fortunately, the military crisis deflated as the countries of the organization announced that they would resort to diplomatic means and negotiations to bring a democratic government back to the top.
Thanks to our Telegram channel you can stay updated on the publication of new Economic Scenarios articles.
The article Mali's military junta receives Bayraktar drones from Turkey. A threat to Ecowas? comes from Economic Scenarios .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/la-giunta-militare-del-mali-riceve-droni-bayraktar-dalla-turchia-una-minaccia-per-ecowas/ on Wed, 10 Jan 2024 20:10:02 +0000.