Mali Official: French Army Trying to Conceal Mass Graves

In April, the Malian army reportedly discovered bodies buried near the former French military base in Gossi.

The French Army is trying to hide the mass graves in Mali, for which it is responsible, Abubakar Sidiki Fomba, a member of the National Transitional Council of Mali, told Sputnik.

"The French military lies, fabricates facts," Fomba said, adding that "if there are mass graves, then they [the French military] are responsible for them."

He also said that Malian authorities have launched an investigation into possible nuclear waste.

The landlocked West African nation of Mali renounced its military cooperation agreement with France on Monday, with ties between the two countries on the brink over a mass grave discovered by Malian troops near a vacated French base that Paris claims was planted there by Russian mercenaries.

Earlier, Mali and Russia accused France of trying to hide "the obvious inhuman crimes of the French military with the help of gross and unsubstantiated informational falsification", particularly in light of the reported discovery of mass graves near the former French base in Gossi.

Paris created its task force Takuba in 2014 to help Mali fight against terrorism in Sahel. However, due to disagreements with the African nation's transitional government, which came to power as a result of a military takeover, France had to withdraw its troops from the country. French President Emmanuel Macron estimated the withdrawal would take from four to six months, despite the Malian government urging him to complete it "without delay."

Earlier in the week, the Malian transitional authority announced its decision to stop defence cooperation with France.