Malian rebels attacked a convoy of 200 Russian militants – Reuters
In northern Mali, a military convoy—comprising local troops and more than 200 Russian fighters from the African Corps — a unit controlled by the Russian Ministry of Defense and created to replace the Wagner Group. Active combat operations are currently underway in the region.
Neighboring Niger, an ally of the Malian junta, provided air support to the trapped units. Representatives of the Malian army and Niger’s military leadership declined to comment.
A spokesperson for the armed group “Azawad Liberation Front” (FLA) claimed responsibility for the attack on the Russians. At the same time, the involvement of the allied organization “Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin” (JNIM) remains unclear. According to sources, earlier this week, militants carried out a similar ambush on another convoy in the north of the country.
This was reported by Reuters.
Units of the so-called African Corps of the Russian Ministry of Defense have left the strategically important city of Kidal in Mali. The withdrawal took place amid an unprecedented attack by Tuareg rebels and Islamists on several regions of the country simultaneously.
Representatives of the Tuareg rebels claim that government forces and their allies left Kidal as previously agreed. At the same time, there is no consensus among Russian Z-channels and military bloggers regarding the reasons for the withdrawal.
Malian soldiers and fighters from the Russian “African Corps” have been accused of killing four civilians in northern Mali. According to local residents and human rights activists, the body of one of the victims was dismembered and arranged in the shape of a swastika.
