Malian Government Claims Anti-Trump Tweets Were a 'Handling Error'

This past Monday, a number of tweets which referred to President Donald Trump's recent drone strike on Iraq as a "fuck up", were sent from Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita's official Twitter account.

According to News24, the Malian government now claims that the since-deleted tweet was a a result of a "handling error" after a former government official mistook the Twitter account as his own personal one.

Former government spokesperson, Tiegoum Maiga, recently claimed responsibility for the tweets. Maiga publicly responded on social media saying that the tweets, which also stated that Trump "threatens world peace and has made the US a rogue state", were meant to be posted via his personal Twitter account and not that of the president.

Channel Africa reports that having seemingly forgotten that he still possessed the login details to the account, Maiga emphasized that the move was "was neither pirates, nor hackers, (but) a regrettable handling error". He also added that he did not wish to make himself a "nuisance" to the president.

Last week Thursday, President Trump ordered a drone strike in Baghdad, Iraq which killed Qassem Soleimani, the leader of Iran's powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Iraq retaliated today by launching missiles on bases housing American forces in the country.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zariftweeted shortly after the missile attacks saying: "Iran took & concluded proportionate measures in self-defense under Article 51 of UN Charter targeting base from which cowardly armed attack against our citizens & senior officials were launched. We do not seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselves against any aggression."

According to CNN, President Trump is set to deliver a statement addressing the attacks later today.