Ivorian army chief reassures troops about 49 soldiers arrested in Mali
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (PANA) - The Chief of Staff of the Ivorian Armed Forces, Lassina Doumbia, has recommended moral resilience to all soldiers in the face of the detention of 49 colleages in Mali for more than a month.
"You must continue to trust us, to trust the political authorities. Our comrades have not been disowned and they will never be abandoned," he said, according to a statement.
He also welcomed the Ivorian soldiers making up the 7th contingent of National Support Elements (NSE 7) back from a six-month mission in Bamako.
According to him, these soldiers returned to Côte d'Ivoire on 10 July, a few hours before their brothers in arms were arrested at Bamako airport and detained by the Malian authorities.
Mali has insisted that the Ivorian soldiers have been detained because they are mercenaries, rejecting the explnation of the UN peacekeepers and Cote d'Ivoire that they were on a rotation mission.
-0- PANA TNDD/JSG/BBA/MA 20Aug2022
