a Russian-made military plane crashes while landing in Gao

A military plane crashed Saturday morning while landing in Gao in northern Mali, said an airport source and the governorate who did not provide further details.

“The causes are not yet known“, declared an airport source. No assessment has yet been given and AFP was not immediately able to say who was using this plane. It could be the Malian army as well as the mercenaries of the Wagner group, present in the country at the request of the ruling junta.

A spokesperson for the German army, still present in Gao as part of the United Nations mission in Mali (Minusma), confirmed the plane accident in the morning. “According to the information we currently have, the plane must have overshot the landing strip“, he said, specifying that it was not a German army plane. “This is an IL-76 model aircraft (Russian built), which is not only used by the Russians, but also by the Malian forces and many others“, he added.

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The Gao military airport is used by the Malian army as well as by its Russian partners and Minusma.

The junta in power in Mali has pushed the French anti-jihadist force out in 2022 and the UN force in 2023, to turn militarily and politically towards Russia. They have made the restoration of sovereignty one of their mantras.

This crash occurred in a context of growing tensions between the various armed actors in the area and the Malian army. Since August, the regions of Timbuktu and Gao have been the scene of a succession of attacks against army positions and against civilians. The army and armed groups are competing for control of the territory as Minusma withdraws.