Dozens of Wagner mercenaries were killed by jihadis and rebels over the weekend in northern Mali in what one analyst describes as the largest battleground blow to the shadowy Russian group in years.
People stand near an improvised memorial to Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and others who died in a plane crash with him last year, near the Kremlin, in Moscow, Russia, on Monday, July 29, 2024. The Russian mercenary group Wagner suffered its heaviest loss in Africa's Sahel region late last week following an attack that was launched separately by both local and al-Qaida-linked rebels.
Approximately 50 Wagner fighters in a convoy were killed in an al-Qaida ambush, which was joined by rebels who were in pursuit, along the border with Algeria, said Wassim Nasr, a Sahel specialist and senior research fellow at the Soufan Center, a security think tank, who said he counted bodies in a video of the aftermath.
In a statement over the weekend, al-Qaida asserted that 50 Wagner fighters were killed in its attack meant to “avenge the massacres committed in the center and north” of Mali in the yearslong battle against the extremists. The Tuareg rebels said an unspecified number of the mercenaries and Malian soldiers surrendered to them.“This is really important. It’s never happened before on African soil and it will change the dynamics," Nasr said.
Wagner has been present in Mali since late 2021 following a military coup, replacing French troops and international peacekeepers in helping to fight militants who have threatened communities in the central and northern regions for more than a decade. At the same time, Wagner has been accused ofHe said failures like the weekend ambush are the reason why the Wagner brand was retained in Mali. “Large losses or setbacks are attributed to private military companies," he said.
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