Mali Leader Says Foreigners Battling Insurgents Need Support
- UN and French military deeply unpopular among Malians
- French troops died during recent operation against militants
A soldier pays tribute to soldiers who died in the helicopter incident in Mali.
Photographer: Jeff Pachoud/AFP via Getty Images
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Mali’s president urged citizens to support foreign troops struggling to contain an Islamist insurgency he said threatens the country’s existence, after protests against the presence of French forces in the West African nation.
“These foreign troops are here because we asked them to, because we need their help,” Ibrahim Boubacar Keita said in a statement on public broadcaster ORTM on Saturday.