Bamako, Mali —
The French military has accused Russian mercenaries of creating a mass grave and falsely blaming it on the French.
The French Army says it has drone video, seen by news agencies Associated Press and Agence France-Presse, of Russian mercenaries burying bodies near Gossi, Mali, where the French army withdrew from a military base this week.
Video of what appears to be a similar location circulated Thursday on Twitter, showing a blurred image of what are alleged to be bodies buried in the sand. The accompanying Twitter message says the departing French army left that scene behind in Gossi.
Speaking to AFP and AP, the French Army said the mercenaries created the site to circulate images and blame the French army to stoke anti-French sentiment in Mali.
The drone video was reportedly captured Thursday morning, but the French army left Gossi on Tuesday. France recently said it would withdraw its troops from Mali in a operation expected to take four to six months.
A Twitter account named "Dia Diarra" posted a video Thursday, including what appears to be bodies partially buried in the sand, with the caption, "This is what the French left behind when they left the base at Gossi. These are excerpts from a video that was taken after they left! We cannot keep silent about this!"
"Dia Darra" claims to be a Malian veteran and "patriot" and posts mostly pro-Malian military and pro-Russia content. The original profile photo used for the account could also be seen on the...
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