Mali's Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop Denies US Troop Deployment, Emphasizes Sovereignty

Mali’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdoulaye Diop, told a press conference in Bamako that the government has received no official confirmation of any United States plan to deploy troops to the country. He said, “We have no confirmation or official US statement on this issue,” and stressed that Mali will not wait for foreign forces to solve its security problems.

Diop reiterated that Mali will rely on its own armed forces and on cooperation within the Alliance of Sahel States, a regional pact with Burkina Faso and Niger, rather than returning to partnerships with Western powers. The remarks come amid speculation that the U.S. administration was weighing a military option to counter jihadist groups such as JNIM and against a backdrop of Mali’s recent political shifts, including the 2020‑2021 coups, the expulsion of French troops, the withdrawal of the UN peacekeeping mission, and closer links with Russia.

By rejecting the rumor of a U.S. troop deployment, Mali underscored its stance on national sovereignty and its desire to chart an independent security strategy in the volatile Sahel region.