France’s defense minister on Sunday condemned the latest film in the Black Panther saga – “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever After” – which shows French troops caught stealing resources belonging to the fictional African kingdom of Wakanda.
“I strongly condemn this false and misleading representation of our armed forces”Sebastien Lecornu wrote on Twitter, responding to an excerpt from November’s film shared by a journalist.
The scene revolves around a group of handcuffed French soldiers who were taken to a UN meeting and embarrassed the Paris ambassador to the UN, after being caught on a secret mission to a Wakandan base in Mali.
Journalist Jean Bexon, who shared the excerpt from the film, wrote, “The evil French mercenaries operating in Mali are dressed as soldiers from Operation Barkhane,” a true-to-life military mission.
France is particularly sensitive about its image in West Africa after military units in Mali and Burkina Faso demanded the departure of French troops, who have been sent to the Sahel since 2013 to fight the jihadists.
“I think of and honor the 58 French soldiers who died defending Mali against Islamic terrorist groups at their request”Lecornu wrote.
The defense ministry told AFP France was not asking for the removal or censorship of any artwork. But “No revisionism can be allowed on France’s recent actions in Mali: we intervene at the request of the country itself to fight armed terrorist groups far from the story told in the film, namely a French army that comes to plunder natural resources”the ministry added.
Sources close to Lecornu said he was “angry to see the film,” which was released just as Russia appears to be successfully inciting the West African population against France and its military interventions.
Mali has asked Russia’s Wagner mercenary group to bolster its army once French troops leave — though the junta still refuses to take on fighters — and there is speculation Burkina Faso could follow suit.
Online, cartoons distributed by pro-Russian accounts and influencers showed France sending skeletons and a giant snake to “conquer all of Africa,” according to videos reviewed by AFP Factcheck this month.
Armed white men in Wagner Group combat gear rescue soldiers with flags from Mali, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast. “We are dealing with a steamroller playing with the perceptions of local people who are in existential difficulties” due to war and famine, a French military source acknowledged earlier this month.
In November, President Emmanuel Macron stressed that “influence” is now a “strategic priority”.
Source: DN
