DOZENS OF SOLDIERS, WAGNER MERCENARIES KILLED IN FIGHTING, MALI REBELS SAYS

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Sat 27 July 2024:

Mali’s northern Tuareg rebels reported killing and injuring dozens of soldiers and Wagner mercenaries in two days of fighting near the Algerian border, Reuters reported. The Malian army confirmed losing two soldiers and killing about 20 rebels during the clashes.

The rebel group, Permanent Strategic Framework for Peace, Security and Development (CSP-PSD), announced seizing armored vehicles, trucks, and tankers in the border town of Tinzaouaten. They also claimed to have damaged a helicopter, which later crashed in Kidal.

The Malian army stated that two soldiers were killed, and 10 were injured. They reported a helicopter crash in Kidal during a routine mission, with no casualties.

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The Tuareg, an ethnic group in the Sahara region, including northern Mali, have felt marginalized by the Malian government. The separatist group began an insurgency in 2012, which was later co-opted by Islamist groups. A peace agreement was signed with Bamako in 2015, but CSP-PSD withdrew from the talks at the end of 2022.

Groups aligned with al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS) have operated in Mali since 2015, seizing territory and making swaths of the country ungovernable.

A military government seized power in 2021, promising to tackle insecurity, but attacks remain rife. The military itself faces several accusations of rights abuses.

Mali along with its neighbours Burkina Faso and Niger, where armed groups operate across porous borders, are all led by military governments that seized power in recent years. All three have kicked out French forces that once helped push back the armed groups and have instead formed a security alliance, turning to Russia’s mercenary units for help.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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