{"id":3526,"date":"2021-10-11T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-11T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.declassifieduk.org\/?p=3526"},"modified":"2023-04-25T13:47:03","modified_gmt":"2023-04-25T12:47:03","slug":"mali-massacre-police-marksmen-had-british-backing-via-eu-scheme-despite-brexit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.declassifieduk.org\/mali-massacre-police-marksmen-had-british-backing-via-eu-scheme-despite-brexit\/","title":{"rendered":"Mali massacre: police marksmen had British backing via EU scheme despite Brexit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Britain supported a \u20ac30 million European Union aid package for an armed police unit in Mali that has since killed 14 protesters, Declassified<\/em> has found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Foreign Office staff \u201coverrode parliamentary scrutiny\u201d to approve<\/a> an aid deal that would benefit the unit in December 2017 \u2013 18 months after the Brexit vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alan Duncan, who was a foreign minister at the time, had to apologise to parliament\u2019s European Scrutiny Committee \u2013 admitting the deal was \u201cnot handled in the correct manner\u201d and that there were \u201cregrettable errors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Duncan\u2019s staff had agreed<\/a> Britain would extend its support for an EU capacity building project known as EUCAP<\/a> Sahel Mali, which trains security forces in west Africa. Britain contributed approximately 15%<\/a> of its \u20ac30 million annual budget until around January 2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to an EU document, the project specifically \u201csupported the creation and operationalisation\u201d of Mali\u2019s Force Sp\u00e9ciale Antiterroriste<\/em> (a Special Anti-Terrorist Force known as Forsat).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Britain was part-financing EUCAP, 20 Forsat personnel received a ten-day training session<\/a> on VIP protection in September 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forsat received further support in April 2020 from a separate military scheme, the EU Training Mission (EUTM) Mali, to which Britain has contributed troops and provided<\/a> \u00a34 million a year in funding until last May.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EUTM spokesman Major Jakub Simicek refused to tell Declassified<\/em> whether British troops directly participated in the Forsat training, which lasted for two weeks in Bamako – the capital of Mali.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, he confirmed that the course had taught 20 Forsat members about \u201cdynamic combat fire using rifle and pistol\u201d and tactics for \u201ccounter-terrorism operations in urban environments.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Simicek said the EU training had promoted \u201cfull respect of human rights and Rule of Law\u201d, Forsat is accused of shooting dead 14 civilians in Bamako during protests against Mali\u2019s government on 10 July 2020 \u2013 just three months after receiving EU training. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The killings took place while thousands of people took to the streets to demand the resignation of President Ibrahim Boubacar Ke\u00efta, who would soon be deposed in a military coup amid anger<\/a> \u2013 in part \u2013 at the prolonged presence of foreign forces in Mali.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another 154 people were injured in the July 2020 shooting. It caused Mali\u2019s security minister to resign<\/a> in disgrace and Forsat\u2019s commander Oumar Samake was arrested over the massacre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, last month hundreds of his men stormed a prison<\/a> in Bamako to set him free. He has since been returned to custody.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mali\u2019s forgotten war on terror<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forsat was set up in response to an Al Qaeda attack on the Radisson Blue hotel in Bamako in 2015. Mali has been rocked by an Islamist insurgency and separatist movements, which have flourished amid instability in the region following the fall of Colonel Gaddafi\u2019s regime in Libya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Major Simicek claimed Forsat was \u201cdedicated to the fight against terrorism and not to crowd control or law enforcement.\u201d He added that EU money has only been spent on training the unit and not financing it directly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The killings raise questions about the effectiveness of British support for security forces in Mali and other countries around the world that are fighting insurgencies. The UK trained thousands of troops in Afghanistan who quickly surrendered to, or may have joined, the Taliban.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response to questions by East Lothian MP Kenny MacAskill, defence minister James Heappey told parliament: \u201cDesertion rates amongst Mali’s defence and security forces were high<\/a> in late 2019, but subsequently appear to have improved.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

“Desertion rates amongst Mali’s defence and security forces were high”<\/p>\n– Defence minister James Heappey<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Heappey said the Ministry of Defence kept \u201cthe security situation under regular review\u201d because hundreds of British troops are deployed to Mali as part of a UN peacekeeping mission which relies on support from local troops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Former Africa minister James Duddridge said the UK \u201ctrained around 150<\/a> [Malian] security personnel,\u201d costing approximately \u00a3850,000 since April 2018. He added: \u201cFollowing the military coups in August 2020 and May 2021 we temporarily suspended training of the security forces.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US stopped its own assistance schemes after the coups and France, the former colonial power, plans to halve<\/a> its 5,000-strong troop deployment as the military operation becomes increasingly unpopular among the French public and many Malians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The changing security situation has seen the military regime in Bamako look to support from other powers including Russia, with mercenaries from Moscow\u2019s notorious Wagner group reportedly arriving in Mali in recent days. Britain\u2019s Foreign Office has said it is \u201cdeeply concerned\u201d about Wagner Group deploying to Mali, describing<\/a> the private security firm as \u201ca driver of conflict and capitalises on instability for its own interests.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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YOU CAN SUPPORT US FROM AS LITTLE AS \u00a33 A MONTH<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Britain supported a \u20ac30 million European Union aid package for an armed police unit in Mali that has since killed 14 protesters, Declassified has found. Foreign Office staff \u201coverrode parliamentary scrutiny\u201d to approve an aid deal that would benefit the unit in December 2017 \u2013 18 months after the Brexit vote. Alan Duncan, who was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3527,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[84,234,17,6],"tags":[90],"coauthors":[186],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMali massacre: police marksmen had British backing via EU scheme despite Brexit<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.declassifieduk.org\/mali-massacre-police-marksmen-had-british-backing-via-eu-scheme-despite-brexit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mali massacre: police marksmen had British backing via EU scheme despite Brexit\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Britain supported a \u20ac30 million European Union aid package for an armed police unit in Mali that has since killed 14 protesters, Declassified has found. 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