Russia’s Wagner mercenaries leaving Mali, Africa Corps to remain
Al Jazeera
The shift brings Russian support to ‘a more fundamental level’, says Kremlin-backed paramilitary force Africa Corps.
Russia’s Wagner mercenary group says it will withdraw from Mali after more than three and a half years on the ground.
The paramilitary force announced the move on Friday, claiming it had successfully completed its mission against armed groups in the West African nation.
In a post on its Telegram channel, the group said that it had brought all of the country’s regional centres back under the control of the Malian military government, pushing out rebel forces and killing their commanders.
But Wagner’s withdrawal from Mali does not mean the country will be without Russian fighters. Russian mercenaries will remain under the banner of the Africa Corps, a separate Kremlin-backed paramilitary group created after Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin led a failed mutiny against the Russian military in June 2023.
“Russia does not lose ground, but on the contrary, continues to support Bamako now at a more fundamental level,” said a statement by Africa Corps, referring to Mali’s capital city.
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