MALI has demanded that Denmark immediately withdraw its troops from the country, saying it was shocked to find Danish soldiers there as part of a French-led force.

The interim government “notes with astonishment the deployment on its territory of a contingent of Danish special forces,” it said in a statement published on Monday that called for their immediate withdrawal.

“The government underlines that this deployment took place without its consent and without consideration of the additional protocol applicable to European partners.”

It is believed that the Danish forces form part of the French-led Takuba counterterrorism task force.

The Danish Defence Ministry said in a statement that about 90 personnel including medics and special operations forces had been deployed under a mandate supposed to last until 2023.

Tensions have risen between Mali’s military government, which seized power in August 2020, and Western countries angry at the deployment of Russian troops to help combat a jihadist insurgency.

Mali and Moscow have strongly denied that soldiers from the Russian private military contractor the Wagner Group are in the country following accusations by a number of European Union governments.

There have been mass protests in Mali against sanctions imposed by the Ecowas regional bloc, supported by former colonial power France, and against the latter’s continued presence in the region, where it is accused of war crimes.