BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — A coalition of armed groups in predominantly Tuareg northern Mali said Saturday it killed dozens of government soldiers and Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group in a battle near the border with Algeria.
On social media, amateur videos showed the lifeless bodies of several white men and Malian soldiers scattered on the ground alongside destroyed vehicles.
The rebel claim comes after the Malian army issued a statement late Friday saying two soldiers were killed and 10 wounded in a rebel attack that also disabled two armored vehicles and two pickup trucks. The army said its troops killed about 20 rebels and destroyed several vehicles.
Neither version could be independently confirmed.
Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, spokesman for the CSP-DPA pro-independence coalition, said in a statement that a two-day battle was raging near the village of Tinzawaten and that the rebels had “routed the entire column of the Malian army and Russian mercenaries.”
According to Ramadane, “the enemy suffered enormous losses in human lives and material, including dozens of dead and wounded.” He also claimed that “Malian soldiers and mercenaries from the Wagner groups surrendered to the Tuareg fighters.”
If true, it would be the hardest blow yet inflicted on Wagner’s mercenaries by Tuareg rebels in Mali.
Rida Lyammouri, a senior fellow at the Policy Center for the New South, a Moroccan think tank, said the battle was a message to the government: “Things will not be that easy and simple when it comes to reconquering and controlling the northern regions.”
“At the same time, this setback could unfortunately lead to further atrocities against civilians” by the government and Wagner, Lyammouri said.
