MOSCOW: Russia’s Wagner mercenary group mentioned on Monday (Jul 29) that its fighters and Malian troopers took losses in heavy combating towards Tuareg rebels close to Mali’s border with Algeria.
Mali, the place navy authorities seized energy in coups in 2020 and 2021, is battling a years-long extremist insurgency. It has mentioned Russian forces there will not be Wagner mercenaries however trainers serving to native troops with tools purchased from Russia.
The insurgent motion, the Everlasting Strategic Framework for Peace, Safety and Improvement (CSP-PSD), mentioned on Saturday that it had seized armoured automobiles, vans and tankers within the combating on the border city of Tinzaouaten.
Wagner, in a uncommon assertion, mentioned its forces had fought alongside Mali troopers from Jul 22-27 and that Wagner fighters have been commanded by Sergei Shevchenko, whose callsign was “Pond”, close to Tinzaouaten.
“On the primary day, the ‘Pond group’ destroyed a lot of the Islamists and put the remaining to flight,” Wagner mentioned on Telegram. “Nevertheless, (an) ensuing sandstorm allowed the radicals to regroup and improve their numbers to 1,000 individuals.”
Wagner mentioned its fighters once more repulsed an assault however that below huge insurgent hearth, there had been losses amongst Wagner and the Malian military.
The final message from the Wagner group on Jul 27 was: “The three of us stayed. We proceed to battle.”
Wagner mentioned Shevchenko was killed.
The Malian military mentioned in statements on the weekend that two of its troopers had been killed and 10 injured. One among its helicopters had crashed in Kidal on Friday whereas on a routine mission however nobody was killed, it mentioned.
