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United Nations, Jan. 11 (AP) – The United States on Tuesday accused Kremlin-backed Russian military contractors of meddling in the internal affairs of African countries and “increasing the potential for violent extremism to flourish” in the Sahel region, which faces growing attacks. ’ and deteriorating security – an allegation Russia denies.
US Deputy Ambassador Richard Mills slammed the Wagner Group at a UN Security Council meeting on West Africa and the Sahel, accusing its paramilitary forces of failing to counter extremist threats, looting national resources, violating human rights and endangering the safety and security of UN peacekeepers and staff security.
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Isis Jaraud-Darnault, a French political adviser, echoed Mills, saying the “model” used by Wagner’s mercenaries had proven “totally ineffective in fighting terrorism”. He cited the “evil” and devastating impact of his work and human rights abuses, including the alleged killing of more than 30 civilians in Mali and the plundering of natural resources.
Britain’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations, James Kariuki, cited the deteriorating security situation, particularly in Mali, Burkina Faso, Nigeria and the Lake Chad Basin, as well as fears of instability spreading to coastal states in West Africa. “You cannot ignore the destabilizing role that the Wagner Group plays in the region. They are part of the problem, not the solution,” he told the committee.
Anna Evstigneeva, Russia’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations, rejected attempts to “discredit Russia’s aid to Mali”, with which Moscow has signed a bilateral agreement to assist the transitional government, “as well as other countries in Africa”.
“Some countries are claiming again today that Russia is clearly looting and looting Africa’s resources and is facilitating the growth of the terrorist threat,” she said, accusing the unnamed countries of doing the same “all over the world and in Africa,” especially It was in neighboring Libya, which destabilized the entire region.
“Based on common sense, the accusations against Russia are simply appalling,” she said, and undermine efforts by African leaders to try to solve their own problems and decide who they want to work with.
Evstigneeva never mentioned the Wagner Group by name. The group, run by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a close confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose mercenaries have been accused by Western countries and United Nations experts of operating across Africa, including the Central African Republic , Libya and Mali) human rights violations.
Giovanni Biha, deputy director of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel, told the council that “insecurity has worsened again in large parts of the region” due to the activities of armed groups, violent extremists and criminal networks. As a result, more than 10,000 schools closed in the Sahel, leaving millions of children without education and nearly 7,000 health centers closed, she said.
Armed groups are vying for supremacy and control of resources, she said, and the central Sahel is facing “unprecedented security and humanitarian challenges, socio-political instability, further exacerbated by the effects of climate change and food insecurity exacerbated by climate change in Ukraine.” conflict.”
She added that a growing number of attacks in countries along the Gulf of Guinea were threatening traffic arteries in landlocked countries further north.
According to the latest report released this week by Secretary-General António Guterres, more than 18.6 million people in the region are experiencing “severe food insecurity,” an increase of 5.6 million since the end of June 2022, with Burkinafa Somalia, Niger and Nigeria are the hardest hit. Some 6.3 million people have been displaced in the Sahel, an increase of 300,000 since June.
Russia’s Evstigneeva said Moscow was concerned about the growing threat of terrorism in the region, ongoing interethnic and intercommunal conflict, organized crime, drug trafficking and the killing of large numbers of civilians by fighters in the second half of 2022.
She referred to the June 30 withdrawal of French counterterrorism forces and the Takuba European military task force they commanded, saying it was not agreed with Mali’s transitional government and had a “negative impact” on the security situation in the short term. semester.
“Nevertheless,” she said, “some progress has been made” and Russia is providing “appropriate assistance” to Mali.
Deputy U.S. Ambassador Mills said the U.S. is deeply concerned by the security, humanitarian and political crises in the Sahel region, which are leading to “a dramatic increase in the power and impact of violent extremism.”
He said the problem needed “democratic governance solutions”. “We also express grave concern about the democratic backsliding across the region and urge the return of democratically elected, civilian-led government.”
The latest wave of coups in West Africa kicked off in Mali in 2020, followed by another in Guinea in 2021 and then in Burkina Faso in January 2022.
Omar Alieu Touray, chair of the West African regional bloc’s ECOWAS committee, told the council that he was pleased to report that the three countries were on track to transition to key elections, with voting to take place over the next two years. (Associated Press)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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