'A disaster': Russia's Africa Corps suffers its first defeat in Mali

France 24

4 days ago

The videos filmed on August 1 by fighters with Jama'at Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM), an al-Qaeda affiliate in the Sahel region, are difficult to watch. The first shows bodies, some of White men, arrayed near a military truck. Another video shows an injured White man in agony being shot in the head. The rattle of automatic gunfire can be heard in the background of all these videos. The videos were first shared on jihadist WhatsApp channels before they were picked up and posted on X.
At several points in the videos, you can hear the jihadists refer to the dead men as 'Wagner'. Wagner, the private paramilitary company founded by the late Yevgeny Prigozhin, announced that it was ending its Mali operations on June 6, 2025. The Russian group Africa Corps has taken its place. These videos seem to show that this group, reputed to have much closer ties to the Russian Ministry of Defense than its predecessor, has just suffered its first defeat in Mali.
The bodies of three mercenaries are visible in the videos filmed by jihadists with the group JNIM. Another video shows a Russian-made Ural-4320 truck that has been totally destroyed.
The day after the ambush, online analysts published videos they said showed a helicopter in a reprisal operation against the JNIM fighters. The Observers team was not able to confirm the geolocation of the video.
Shortly after the ambush, JNIM published a statement through its official media outlet Az-Zallaqa, claiming to have captured "a military vehicle, 16 Kalashnikovs, two PK machine guns, ammunition and various other pieces of equipment'.
Criticism by former Wagner recruits
After news of the ambush broke, Russian military bloggers began to criticise the Africa Corps. Military blogger and analyst Rybar called it a "stern warning' that should 'serve as a lesson'.
'The African front is too often underestimated,' he said. 'The complexity of fighting here is comparable, or perhaps even superior to, operations in the Special Operation Zone," a reference to Russia's war on Ukraine.
In a message published on Telegram the day of the ambush, the pro-Wagner Russian blogger Turist called it a "disaster".
'It should have been possible to avoid this considering all the resources at the disposal of the Africa Corps,' he said.
He also deplored that the fighters had abandoned both some of their vehicles and the bodies of their comrades.
The Telegram channel Sand Cat, which has close links to Wagner, also deplored the lack of aerial support during the ambush.
"There were no security helicopters,' the administrator wrote. 'Precious time was thus lost and the price was the lives of our fighters. Normally, it wouldn't take longer than 20 minutes for a machine to arrive from the nearest base, if the engine is warmed up. A MI-24 [Editor's note: a Russian helicopter] could have torn this group of scum [Editor's note: here, he refers to the jihadists] to shreds.'
Sand Cat also criticised the commanders of the Africa Corps for not making an effort to learn from the Wagner fighters who spent years in the field in Mali.
In a post from August 1, Sand Cat mocked the Africa Corps, imagining them saying: 'We don't listen to the Wagner idiots, who walked this land for years, who took their punches and know how to work here and how to work with the local population. We are too smart, we went to military school, we have experience on paper that dates back to Chechnya.'
"The arrival of new heavy equipment from the Africa Corps won't change anything'
Only three mercenary bodies are visible in the videos shared by the jihadists, but according to a regional specialist who wants to remain anonymous, the Russians lost many more men. He says that they did not have the right equipment for fighting against a counterinsurgency:
According to the non-official tally by the jihadists, which I can't confirm, there were at least 40 people killed, including 14 Russians. The jihadists wanted to hit hard because Ténenkou is their territory. Historically, this land was under the control of Amadou Koufa [Editor's note: one of the Fula chiefs who was a commander with the JNIM], so they want to show that they control their territory. That's why the JNIM decided to attack this convoy that was bringing supplies from Niono towards the advance base at Dioura.
The region is totally under jihadist control. Outside the big cities, the government doesn't have a presence here. State structures (administrative, judicial, security) are all absent in the rural zones. Instead, the JNIM are seen as the legitimate authority with political, ideological and territorial control.
The JNIM use Islamic law to keep a handle on how natural resources are extracted and used by local authorities in the area. The jihadists require people to pay zakat [an Islamic tax]. They also apply sharia law and run the resources.
For their part, the Malian Armed Forces and the Russians don't seem to be able to expand from their bases. Before, they were totally surrounded. The arrival of new heavy material belonging to the Africa Corps won't change anything. These armoured vehicles and Russian tanks are ineffective against insurgents who get around on motorcycles. Thanks to an extremely dense network of informers across the population, the jihadists are aware of every movement across their territory.
The area around Ténenkou is a complex environment with mangroves, pastoral areas and some areas that can become flooded depending on the season. It is the perfect landscape for guerrillas. The jihadists know the terrain very well. The JNIM has even created tunnels near places with water and their own passageways for vehicles. However, the Malian Army and the Russians have to depend on guides who don't know the land as well as the jihadists.
The Malian Armed Forces published a statement on August 1, confirming that there was an "ambush ongoing'. However, in the days that followed, Malian authorities didn't provide any further details about the damage sustained or the loss of human life.