Wagner forces are involved in heavy fighting in Mali. Photo: FRENCH ARMY
Russian Wagner mercenaries are trying to spark a civil war in Mali in Mali. It is an attempt to keep its African venture afloat, US officials told the Sunday Telegraph.
Wagner's forces in Mali have not only remained intact since the death of their founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, in a plane crash near Moscow in August, but are also involved in violent conflicts battles across the country and continue to expand their operations throughout Africa.
< p>But where once their activities were largely limited to providing security and training for Malian forces, the mercenaries are now clashing with anti-government Tuareg rebels to sow instability, officials say.
U.S. officials believe instability caused by additional fighting benefits Wagner's business model.
A column of militia fighters heads into battle against Wagner
“It's in their best interest,” one official said. “Because it means more intense fighting in more areas, so they [Mali] need more help.”
Mali's ruling junta has sidelined Western peacekeeping and counterterrorism operations, relying instead on support from Russian mercenaries in fight against Islamist groups since seizing power in 2021 as a result of a coup led by Colonel Asimi Goita.
Thousands of French soldiers have been fighting rebels in the West African country since 2013, when they were deployed to repel an attempt to seize its capital Bamako before being withdrawn.
United Nations stabilization forces, which were its second most dangerous The peacekeeping mission, which has killed 309 people since 2013, has been ordered to leave the country by the end of the year.
Wagner in Mali
With vast swathes of the desert falling into the hands of jihadists and Russian mercenaries.
But where European missions have been focused on fighting militants linked to the Islamic State and al-Qaeda, Wagner forces have resumed fighting Tuareg rebels despite a 2015 peace deal aimed at rooting out the Islamist threat.
< p> Oumar Marico, a prominent supporter of the 2012 coup against former President Amadou Toure, warned that Wagner would try to take advantage of “the systematic carnage between the army and the forces of the former rebellion.”
Despite Prigozhin's death, officials said Wagner's localized command structures on the continent remained intact, and the group thwarted efforts by Kremlin officials to launch its own operations there.
Despite Kremlin claims that mercenaries were working to stop the violence in Mali, according to Armed Conflict Location & An Event Data Project that tracks bloodshed.
More than 150 people have died in northern Mali alone since late August.
Western diplomats are concerned that the growing conflict has gone unnoticed due to crises in neighboring Niger and Burkina Faso, as well as the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Wagner's forces have not emerged unscathed from recent battles.
It is reported that a military plane carrying Wagner fighters crashed in Mali.
The September 17 battle between Malian military forces known as Fama and KMA rebels, a coordinated group of militants who signed up in 2015. ceasefire, the battle took place over a military base in Lere, southeast of Timbuktu.
“They surprised the Fama and forced them to flee, seizing weapons and military equipment along the way, and then retreated in good order,” said a senior rebel.
The rebels captured a Soviet-era T-54. battle tank in a two-hour battle, footage posted on social media shows.
They also claimed to have shot down an L-39 Albatross fighter jet, which was handed over to the Malian army by Russia at the beginning of the year, during the fighting . The second one was reported to have been damaged.
A Chinese armored personnel carrier sold to Mali but known to have been used in the country by Wagner forces was also destroyed.
The rebels held the camp until about 5 a.m. the next day, then withdrew once the Malian air force began to operate. bombed the area.
Just this week, Wagner and Mali forces also lost a Su-24 fighter and an Mi-8 transport, according to Oryx, a website that tracks combat losses.
< p >Replacing the airframes will be nearly impossible as they are needed by Russian occupation forces in Ukraine.
Militia fighters gather ahead of clashes with Wagner forces
And earlier this week, footage emerged of a Russian-made cargo plane. , supposedly carrying Wagner troops and equipment, crashed at the end of the runway in Gao.
“Loss like this is unacceptable,” the source said. “Whenever a plane is shot down or some heavy equipment, such as a tank, explodes, it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to replace it.”
Five days earlier, rebels attacked the Fama base in Burem, a strategic town linking Timbuktu and Gao with their refuge in Kidal.
The main battles are for the territories left unprotected by French anti-jihadist forces and UN forces. Minusma peacekeepers.
In mid-August, a battle took place for control of the outgoing mission's base at Bera, about 38 miles from Timbuktu, prompting the peacekeepers to hastily hasten their withdrawal.
August 13 to the base attacked twice, injuring four peacekeepers.
KMA rebels accused Wagner and government forces of violating the ceasefire to attack troops near the base.
This is true. The recent escalation of hostilities is believed to have coincided with the return of bases to Mali's armed forces from departing peacekeepers.
There is an expectation that Wagner is particularly keen to seize bases and even raid warehouses when the UN mission leaves to resupply equipment at the expense of recent losses.
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