French army chief slams UN ‘bias’ in report on Mali strike

Paris: The head of France’s armed forces has slammed a UN report into an air strike in central Mali which killed 19 civilians, saying it was biased and delegitimised the operations of the French-led Barkhane force there.

"Very clearly this (report) comprises an attack on the French army, the Barkhane operation (and) on the legitimacy of our engagements," General Francois Lecointre told French daily Le Figaro in an interview published on Saturday.

Lecointre said the UN report published in March into the January 3 air strike, which said French forces had killed 19 civilians during wedding party celebrations near the village of Bounti in central Mali, contained "errors" and "bias".

France’s defence ministry, the French military and Mali’s government have backed the army’s account of an attack which they insist targeted jihadists in a planned and targeted operation against an "armed terrorist group", while denying there was a wedding.