“This is unacceptable behavior,” a military spokesman said . “This image is not representative of action by France in Mali.”
Here's the soldier in Niono, Mali, on Jan. 20:
Image by ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP / Getty Images
And here's the character his mask is based on:
AFP photographer Issouf Sanogo explains the moments leading up to the shot:
"A helicopter was coming in to land and churning up tremendous dust clouds. Instinctively, all the soldiers grabbed their scarfs to avoid getting a mouthful of sand. It was evening, and rays of sunlight were pushing through the trees and into the dust clouds. It was a lovely light. I spotted this soldier wearing a strange scarf and took the photo. At the time, nothing about the scene seemed especially unusual or shocking. The soldier wasn't posing and there was nothing staged about the image. He was just standing there, protecting his face from the dust, waiting for the chopper to land. No one tried to stop me shooting the picture."
Image by ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP / Getty Images
