Tensions in the Mali military over Wagner mercenaries are highlighted in the report

A new report says that Russian private mercenary operations in Mali have made the country’s army and military government angry, led to security problems, and not led to any mining permits.

After the military took over in two coups in 2020 and 2021, they got rid of French and UN troops that had been fighting Islamist rebels for ten years. This is when the Wagner group started working in Mali.

Wagner said it would be leaving in June, but the militia group Africa Corps, which is run by the Kremlin, said it would stay. Several Telegram chats used by Russian soldiers seen by Reuters show that between 70 and 80% of the Africa Corps are former Wagner mercenaries.

Human Rights Watch, based in New York, and other rights groups have regularly accused Wagner of killing civilians while fighting with Mali’s army.

The Sentry, an investigative research group, released a report on Wednesday that said Wagner had also caused problems for the military and the government it was hired to support. The report was based on interviews with officials from Mali’s military, intelligence agency, finance, and mines ministries.

According to interviews with Malians soldiers, Wagner fighters would “often operate outside the chain of command,” which meant they would use army gear and even do security work without permission or notice.

It was possible for people, vehicles, or equipment to be lost on these trips, the report said. It said that other times, they had left Malian troops without the tools they needed to fight when insurgents attacked.

The story says that Malians are angry at Russian mercenaries because they get “preferential treatment,” like medical evacuations that are hard to do because of a lack of fuel.

Wagner and the Russian Ministry of Defense did not reply right away to requests for comment.

AN ATTEMPT TO DETABILISE

Mali arrested more than 30 soldiers and officers earlier this month on charges that they were trying to bring down the military government.

Sentry agents told Reuters that the arrests happened after two generals and several colonels got together to talk about their problems, such as the fact that “Russians” still seemed to be in charge of the military bases where they worked.

Police from The Sentry said that any attempt to cause trouble would probably have something to do with how Wagner and Africa Corps have treated Malian troops.

Officials in the United States think that Sadio Camara, who is the Defense Minister, got Wagner permission to work in Mali. In 2023, the U.S. Treasury Department put restrictions on Wagner’s ability to do so. However, The Sentry story said that Wagner was not able to get mining licenses or concessions as payment because President Assimi Goita himself stopped him.

Instead, it said that Wagner and Africa Corps had “failed to establish a viable business; relations with the military have only gotten worse over time; and Wagner’s feared reputation has been harmed by a series of military setbacks.”