Tuareg Rebels Claim Victory Over Malian Soldiers and Wagner Mercenaries in Northern Mali

During a two-day conflict close to the Algerian border, Tuareg rebels in the northern part of Mali claimed on Saturday that they had killed and injured multiple government troops and Russian Wagner Group mercenaries. Two soldiers died and ten others were injured according to the Malian military.

Declared by the CSP-PSD rebel movement, they had taken tanks, trucks, and armored vehicles during the Thursday and Friday skirmishes in Tinzaouaten. They also claimed to have wrecked a chopper that crashed hundreds of kilometers distant in Kidal.

The Malian army confirmed that two men and ten others were killed and injured when a chopper crashed in Kidal on a Friday regular patrol. Social media videos revealed motionless bodies of many white guys and Malian troops laying next to destroyed vehicles.

According to accounts from Russian military bloggers, an ambush close to the Algerian border claimed about twenty Wagner group members dead. Still, the material the bloggers post is unconfirmed on my end.

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Spokesperson for the pro-independence CSP-DPA coalition, Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, said in a press release that a fierce two-day conflict happened close to Tinzawaten hamlet and “rebels successfully defeating the Malian army and Russian mercenaries.” Ramadane said, “the enemy suffered significant casualties in both personnel and equipment, with many dead and injured.” “Several Malian soldiers and Wagner group mercenaries surrendered to the Tuareg fighters,” he said as well.

Though some of them live in northern Mali, the Tuareg people call the Sahara home. The Malian government marginalizes them quite a bit. Separative groups started an insurgency against Mali’s junta government in 2012; Islamist groups later took power.

Since at least 2021, Wagner contractors have been working in Mali and were heavily involved in intense warfare during Russia’s engagement in the war in Ukraine. Still, their future become hazy after its commander Yevgeny Prigozhin died in an August 2023 plane accident during a brief rebellion against the Russian military forces.

With the help of Russian forces, who are more of instructors than mercenaries, Mali, struggling with political unrest resulting from past coups, keeps a constant Islamist revolt under control.