Mali’s Tuareg rebels say Russian fighters must withdraw from country

As Mali’s military government battles to reassert control, spokesperson for Tuareg rebels says it will fall ‘sooner or later’.Mali’s Tuareg rebels, involved in a continuing uprising, including the assassination of the country’s defence minister, have said they want to drive the military government’s Russian backers out of the country.Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, a spokesperson for the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), told the AFP news agency during a visit to Paris to meet French security and defence officials that his movement’s “objective” was for Russia’s Africa Corps to “withdraw permanently” from the country.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Mali’s military leader emerges after alleged coup attemptlist 2 of 3What role has Russia played in Mali’s security and the Sahel region?list 3 of 3‘We saw terrible things’: Mali refugees tell of atrocities amid attacksend of listRussian fighters backed the military government of President Assimi Goita, as it came under coordinated attack from an alliance of Tuareg separatists, Fulani and Arab rebels, and al-Qaeda-linked fighters, who entered the capital Bamako and made gains across several northern and central cities, including Kidal and Sevare.“We have no particular problem with Russia, nor with any other country. Our problem is with the regime that governs Bamako,” Ramadane told AFP as he sought support from France, the former colonial power whose troops were forced out by Mali’s military rulers in 2022.He said the rebels viewed Russia’s intervention negatively because they “supported people who committed serious crimes and massacres”, referring to Goita’s government, which seized power in a coup in 2020.Coup attemptThe rebel alliance, including the FLA and the al-Qaeda-linked JNIM, launched a coordinated offensive in multiple cities on Saturday.Mali’s defence minister, Sadio Camara, was killed in an assault on his home at his residence in Kati, a garrison town near Bamako, which is home to several senior government officials. The Malian government said he was killed by a “car bomb driven by a suicide bomber”.