In Mali, a Russian mercenary commander was killed in a rebel attack

Amidst intense clashes with separatists and jihadists, a rebel attack in Mali claimed the life of a Russian mercenary commander.

After rebel fighters attacked during a sandstorm in Mali, a commander from a Russian mercenary outfit was slain. In 2021, the military government of the West African state looked to the Wagner organization for assistance in fending off separatist and jihadist groups.

The organization, which is currently going by the name Africa Corps, announced on Monday that it had joined Mali’s armed forces in “heavy battles” against Islamic extremists and separatist rebels last week. However, sources close to Africa Corps and Russian military bloggers claim that the separatists conducted a significant onslaught that claimed the lives of between twenty and fifty mercenaries. Sergei Shevchenko, the commander, was among the dead.

After the mercenaries “destroyed most of the Islamists and put the rest to flight,” the radicals were able to reorganize and amass a thousand members.

The attack was attributed to the separatist group Permanent Strategic Framework for Peace, Security and Development (CSP-PSD), which is dominated by the Tuareg ethnic group. They took custody of inmates and destroyed or seized weapons and equipment.

According to the CSP-PSD spokeswoman, “on Saturday, our forces dealt a decisive blow to the enemy columns.” This information was reported by AFP. The official also stated that “a large amount of equipment and weapons were damaged or captured” along with the taking of prisoners.

The rebel organization published videos of a large group of primarily black males with blindfolds on and their wrists tied behind their backs, and a large number of white men in military fatigues lying still on a sandy plain. There is no proof that these videos are legitimate.

The attack was also attributed to Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), an al-Qaeda offshoot that claimed to have killed 50 Russian mercenaries in a “complex ambush.”

After a Tuareg uprising more than ten years ago, the central government of Mali lost authority over most of the country’s north. Islamist extremists’ involvement further worsened the security situation. The current military junta, which took control in coups in 2020 and 2021, justified its actions by pointing to the government’s failure to address the discontent. In an effort to put an end to the unrest, the junta broke Mali’s long-standing alliance with France, a former colonial power, in favor of Russia. Following a rebellion headed by Yevgeny Prigozhin last year, the Wagner group was dissolved, and Africa Corps took its place in West Africa.