DAKAR, Senegal (AP) – At least six Russian mercenaries have been killed in an attack by an al-Qaeda-linked group in central Mali, according to a militant statement on a media platform.
The group, known by its acronym JNIM, said it ambushed a convoy of mercenaries working for the Wagner Group in the Mopti region on Thursday, killing the fighters and burning the vehicles.
Malian security officials working in the region confirmed an attack on Russian soldiers on Thursday that left several people dead at a checkpoint in the country's center. The official spoke on condition of anonymity Saturday because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Russia is taking advantage of deteriorating relations between Western countries and the coup-affected Sahel countries in West Africa to increase its influence by dispatching fighters. Wagner operated in the vast Sahel, south of the Sahara Desert, where mercenaries profited from the rich minerals they seized in exchange for security services.
Wagner has been in Mali since late 2021 after a military coup, working on behalf of French troops and international peacekeepers to help fight extremists who have threatened communities in the central and northern regions for more than a decade. are. At the same time, Wagner is accused of helping carry out raids and drone strikes that killed civilians.
The incident comes months after the group's deadliest attack, which killed about 50 Wagner fighters in an ambush on an al-Qaeda convoy along the border with Algeria.
