A week after the demonstration of people in Gao to denounce the endless detonations and artillery fire, the French forces of the operation explain. According to Barkhane, “the elimination of these munitions contributes to the security and protection of the people”.
At the end of November, hundreds of people demonstrated in Gao, at the call of the Youth Communal Council, the Coordination of Women’s Associations and NGOs of Mali and other civil society movements, to denounce, among other things, “the endless detonations, uncontrolled on the outskirts of the city”.
In a statement, which Sahelien.com received a copy, the French forces of Operation Barkhane explain the reasons for the artillery fire and the destruction of ammunition which originates from them, with the Malian Armed Forces and the Minusma. For the French operation, launched in 2014 and 4,000 soldiers strong, these activities first respond to a concern to protect the city of Gao, airport area where are stationed the FAMa and international forces: “(…) artillery can be fired at any time of the day and night to deter terrorists from bombarding the city from their usual areas”.
In addition to these shootings, other explosions come from the destruction of ammunition and explosive devices “seized during operations against armed groups”, such as, says Barkhane, “those same ones that were used by the terrorists on a minibus on November 6 that killed four people, including a girl near Ansongo”. The searched goal would only be to “contribute to the security and protection of the people”.
The demonstrators, on November 30, also called for “the systematic cessation of all forms of weapons or ammunition destruction” by the Barkhane Force. If these operations will not be stopped, Barkhane decided to “move the area of major destruction further away from the city to limit the nuisance to the people”.
Sahelien.com