Mali rebels thwart Russian mercenaries in sandstorm ambush

A commander in a Russian mercenary group has been killed in Mali following an assault by insurgent fighters throughout a sandstorm, the group mentioned.

The navy regime within the West African state had turned to the infamous Wagner group in 2021, looking for assist in combating jihadist and separatist forces.

On Monday the Russian outfit – which has now morphed into a bunch named Africa Corps – mentioned it had joined Mali’s navy in “fierce battles” in opposition to separatist rebels and jihadist militants final week.

Nonetheless, the separatists launched a serious assault, killing an estimated 20 to 50 mercenaries, sources near Africa Corps informed the BBC.

Equally, a number of Russian navy bloggers reported that not less than 20 had been killed within the ambush close to the north-eastern city of Tinzaouaten.

In an official assertion posted to Telegram, the Russian mercenary group didn’t specify what number of of their troops had died, however they confirmed struggling “losses”. This included a commander, Sergei Shevchenko, who was killed in motion.

The mercenaries initially “destroyed a lot of the Islamists and put the remaining to flight”, the assertion mentioned.

“Nonetheless, [an] ensuing sandstorm allowed the radicals to regroup and enhance their numbers to 1,000 folks,” it added.

The Everlasting Strategic Framework for Peace, Safety and Improvement (CSP-PSD), a separatist group dominated by the Tuareg ethnic group, claimed accountability for the assault.

“On Saturday, our forces dealt a decisive blow to the enemy columns,” AFP quoted the CSP-PSD’s spokesperson as saying.

Prisoners had been taken and “a considerable amount of gear and weapons had been broken or captured”, the spokesman added.

The insurgent group has shared video footage which exhibits quite a few white males in navy fatigues mendacity immobile on a sandy plain.

One other exhibits a bunch of principally black males carrying blindfolds with their fingers tied behind their backs.

The BBC has not been in a position to affirm the authenticity of the movies.

Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), an al-Qaeda affiliate, has additionally claimed sole accountability for the assault.

The Islamist militants mentioned they killed 50 Russian mercenaries in a “advanced ambush”.

Greater than a decade in the past, Mali’s central authorities misplaced management of a lot of the north following a Tuareg riot, which was sparked by a requirement for a separate state.

The nation’s safety then was then additional difficult by the involvement of Islamist militants within the battle.

When seizing energy in coups in 2020 and 2021, the navy cited the federal government’s lack of ability to deal with this unrest.

The brand new junta severed Mali’s long-running alliance with former colonial energy France in favour of Russia in a bid to quell the unrest.

However the Wagner mercenary group was in impact dismantled after a mutiny by its chief Yevgeny Prigozhin final yr, resulting in its substitute in West Africa by Africa Corps.