Mali on Tuesday received military jets and a combat helicopter from Russia.
During a ceremony, L-39 and Sukhoi-25 jets as well as Mi-24P helicopter gunships were displayed.
Defense Minister Sadio Camara paid tribute to what he called Mali’s “win-win partnership with the Russian Federation.”
The new deliveries “strengthen our reconnaissance and attack capabilities,” he said.
No information was disclosed about the conditions for acquiring the gunships. Previous Russian arms deliveries made public this year, were helicopters and surveillance radars as well as mobile radar systems.
Mali has been battered by a jihadist campaign that began in the north of the country in 2012. It then spread to the south and insurgents reached Burkina Faso and Niger.
Recently, Al-Qaeda terrorists have heaped pressure on Mali’s military. In July, jihadi rebels attacked Mali’s Kati military base on the outskirts of the capital city Bamako where the president of the transitional authorities resides.
