KIGALI (Anadolu) – The Malian army (FAMA) said late Friday it discovered a mass grave near the camp formerly occupied by the French force in Gossi in the north.
The French army exited Gossi’s advanced operational base on Tuesday, transferring it to the Malian army.
“Remains in a state of advanced putrefaction were discovered in a mass grave, not far from the camp formerly occupied by the French Barkhane force,” according to a statement by the General Staff of the Malian armies.
It said “advanced state of putrefaction of the bodies indicates that the mass grave existed long before the (base) handover.”
“Therefore, responsibility for this act can in no way be attributed to the FAMA,” it said.
The Defense Ministry is to open an investigation to shed light on the mass grave, according to the statement.
The base reportedly had about 300 French soldiers.
France sent troops to the western African country in 2013 allegedly to defeat militants in northern Mali and the Sahel.
The operation ended in February after France’s ties with its former colony deteriorated.
The Malian defense ministry has been assigned to conduct an investigation into the mass killings.
France and the United States were quick to blame Russian forces deployed in Mali for the killings.
The French army claimed Russian fighters buried bodies near the Gossi base with the intention of framing the French for the killings, according to French and American news agencies.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said Friday it supported an investigation into the mass graves and urged France to cooperate with Mali in the investigation.
France’s exit from Mali came as swathes of territory remained under the control of rebel militants linked to Al-Qaeda and Daesh.
The Sahel, a semi-arid stretch of land south of the Sahara desert, has been in turmoil since 2012, when a number of armed separatists started targeting the local population in Mali.