ECOWAS closed its borders with Mali as part of the regional institution’s sanctions intended to force Bamako to quickly organize elections. Mali responded by doing the same. But do these closures also apply to foreign military aircraft? The Malian government protested after a large carrier from the French army cut off its radio to cross the Malian border and land in Gao.
The Air Force A400M was on the Abidjan-Gao link. A routine military flight, as there is every day for troop supply and operations. During this flight, the control centers of Ouagadougou and Niamey reminded the French aircraft the ban on entering Malian airspace.
However, the flight was compliant, says the staff of the armies in Paris. He followed the planned procedure with a flight plan approved by the Malian authorities, specifying that upon entering Malian territory, the transponder – that is to say the aircraft’s radio identification system – switches in a military mode making the flight information inaccessible to the civilian controller.
The plane therefore landed on the important Malian base of Gao, the technical procedures were followed to the letter, says Paris. And to insist that military planes are not affected by the air embargo on Mali. But in Bamako, we see things from a different angle. And in the showdown that is being played out, all blows are now permitted.