Mali’s army has admitted it suffered “significant” losses during two days of fighting involving Tuareg separatist rebels and al-Qaeda-linked militants.
It is rare for the military to own up to battlefield disasters and comes a day after its ally, the Russian mercenary Wagner group, said one of its commanders had died in the fighting that took place during a sandstorm.
Neither Mali’s military nor Wagner have given figures, but the estimated death toll for Wagner fighters ranges from between 20 and 80.
The clashes took place in the desert near Tinzaouaten, a north-eastern town on the border with Algeria.
According to Wagner, its fighters and a detachment from the Malian military were retreating from Tinzaouaten after clashes with separatist forces from the Tuareg ethnic group.
Whilst waiting for reinforcements, their convoy was ambushed in attacks by the separatists and militants from an al-Qaeda affiliate, Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM).
This account is backed up by the Malian army, which said one of its units “was encircled by the coalition of terrorist forces” and “fierce fighting began before the arrival of reinforcements”, the AFP news agency quotes its statement read out on national TV as saying.
“The exemplary bravery and determination of our soldiers could not avoid a large number of losses in human lives and equipment,” it added.
Wagner estimated the Tuareg and Islamist fighters had combined manpower of more than 1,000 – and that one of two Russian helicopters that went to the aid of the mercenaries and Malian soldiers was downed.
JNIM said 50 Russians and 10 Malian soldiers had been killed, although these numbers have not been verified.
The extent of the co-ordination between the separatists and Islamists is also unclear.
Such groups were allied in 2012 when Islamist militant groups who took over northern Mali amidst a Tuareg uprising.
This prompted former colonial power France and then the UN to intervene to stop them advancing south to the capital, Bamako.
The Tuareg groups went on to sign a peace agreement with the government, but the jihadists persisted with attacks from their desert bases.
Their continuing insurgency was the main reason Mali’s military seized power in 2020, accusing the civilian government of failing to provide security.
It pledged to end the militant attacks asking France and the UN to withdraw their forces, and bringing in Wagner fighters.
But this resulted in some Tuaregs taking up arms again, as they were angered by the departure of UN peacekeepers amongst other issues.
Tuareg and Arab groups in the north feel ignored by the more prosperous south. Northern Mali is a vast, arid, under-developed and sparsely populated area, which the separatists call Azawad.
The security situation in the whole country remains precarious – and these recent losses for the Russian-backed junta are humiliating.
Russia’s defence ministry has been approached for more help by Wagner, but it is unclear whether that will be forthcoming given the war in Ukraine.
A spokesman for Ukraine’s military intelligence has been quoted as saying that Ukraine played a role in the recent ambush against Wagner fighters in Mali.
He added that “the rebels received necessary information, and not just information, which enabled a successful military operation” against Wagner fighters.
A photo published by the Kyiv Post on Monday claimed to show Malian rebels holding a Ukrainian flag after the battle. BBC Verify has established this image dates back to a video posted on X in June, in which no Ukrainian flag can be seen, only the Azawad flag.
Wagner, under various paramilitary guises, still operates in Africa despite its failed mutiny last year against Russian President Vladimir Putin and the subsequent death in a helicopter accident of its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin.
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