A commander of a Russian mercenary group has been killed in an attack by rebel fighters during a sandstorm in Mali, the group said.
In 2021, the West African country’s military regime turned to the notorious Wagner Group for support in its fight against jihadist and separatist forces.
On Monday, the Russian force – which has now evolved into a group called Afrika Korps – said it had joined Malian forces last week in “fierce fighting” with separatist rebels and jihadist militants.
However, sources close to Afrika Korps told the BBC that the separatists launched a massive attack in which an estimated 20 to 50 mercenaries were killed.
Likewise, several Russian military bloggers reported that at least 20 people were killed in an ambush near the northeastern town of Tinzavaten.
In an official statement posted on Telegram, the Russian mercenary group did not specify how many of its troops were killed, but they confirmed they had suffered “losses.” Among them was commander Sergey Shevchenko, who was killed in the battle.
The statement said the mercenaries initially “eliminate most of the Islamists and dispersed the rest.”
“However, [an] The ensuing sandstorm allowed the militants to regroup and their numbers increased to 1,000,” it added.
The Tuareg-dominated separatist group the Permanent Strategic Framework for Peace, Security and Development (CSP-PSD) claimed responsibility for the attack.
AFP quoted a CSP-PSD spokesman as saying: “On Saturday, our troops dealt a decisive blow to the enemy column.”
The spokesman added that prisoners of war were captured and “a large amount of equipment and weapons were damaged or seized”.
Video footage shared by the rebel group showed scores of white men in military uniforms lying motionless on the sandy plains.
Another photo showed a group of mostly black men wearing blindfolds and their hands tied behind their backs.
The BBC has not been able to confirm the authenticity of the videos.
Al Qaeda-affiliated Jamaat-e-Islami Islami (JNIM) also claimed full responsibility for the attack.
Islamist militants say they killed 50 Russian mercenaries in a “sophisticated ambush”.
More than a decade ago, Mali’s central government lost control of much of the north following a Tuareg rebellion that was sparked by demands for an independent state.
The country’s security situation has become more complicated due to the involvement of Islamist militants in the conflict.
When it seized power in coups in 2020 and 2021, the military said the government was unable to resolve the unrest.
The new military government severed Mali’s long-standing alliance with former colonial power France and instead supported Russia in an effort to quell the unrest.
But the Wagner mercenary group was effectively disbanded after its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin rebelled last year, leading to its replacement in West Africa by the Afrika Korps.
