Handing over Turkish Bayraktar aircraft to the ruling military council

On Thursday, January 4, the ruling army in Mali received drones from Turkey during a ceremony attended by the head of the military junta, Colonel Assimi Goita, according to an Agence France-Presse correspondent. “Mali's top authorities have moved towards the acquisition of key equipment, including Bayraktar TB2 drones.“, said the Master of Ceremonies in a speech on behalf of the Air Force crew.

He stressed that the Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drones allow monitoring the national territory, detecting suspicious targets, tracking them, and striking them with surgical precision if necessary. An AFP correspondent counted six drones on the runway at Bamako airport.

A security, political and humanitarian crisis

Since 2012, Mali has been suffering from the spread of jihadists and a serious crisis, not only security, but also political and humanitarian. The colonels who seized power by force in 2020 made a strategic reorientation, breaking the old alliance with the former hegemon France and turning militarily and politically towards Russia. They demanded the departure of the UN mission (MINUSMA), whose withdrawal was completed on December 31st.

In March 2023, they had already received several aircraft from Russia and drones from Turkey. Russian military equipment was also delivered in March and August 2022 and January 2023.