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Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Russia's Wagner Group leaves Mali, Africa Corps will stay
The Russia-backed Wagner Group of mercenaries on Friday said that it is leaving Mali after more than three and a half years of fighting Islamist insurgents in the country. Despite the announcement by Wagner, Russia will continue to have its presence in Mali as the Africa Corps, a paramilitary force also controlled by Russia, will continue to stay in the country. The Africa Corps said on its Telegram channel that Wagner's departure would not introduce any changes, and the Russian contingent will remain in Mali. "Mission accomplished. Private Military Company Wagner returns home," the group announced via its channel on the messaging app Telegram. The Wagner Group has been in Mali since the army expelled the French and United Nations troops that were fighting Islamic insurgents for a decade. With waning Western influence in the region, Russia has rushed in to fill the gap and offer assistance. Wagner said that it has successfully brought all of the country's regional centers back under the control of the Malian military junta. The Africa Corps was formed with the Russian Defense Ministry's support after Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin and commander Dmitry Utkin led a failed military mutiny against the Russian army leadership and left Russia for Belarus with other mercenaries. Prigozhin was later killed in a plane crash north of Moscow, with US officials suggesting that a bomb or sabotage on board brought down the plane. About 70-80% of the Africa Corps group is made up of former Wagner mercenaries, according to several Telegram chats used by Russian mercenaries seen by Reuters news agency. Around 2,000 mercenaries are deployed in Mali. It is unclear how many are with Wagner and how many are part of the Africa Corps, according to US officials. Edited by: Wesley Dockery
DW
a day ago
- Politics
- DW
Russia's Wagner Group leaves Mali, Africa Corps will stay – DW – 06/07/2025
Russia's mercenary group Wagner said that it is leaving Mali after helping reestablish the Malian junta's control over regional centers. The Russia-backed Wagner Group of mercenaries on Friday said that it is leaving Mali after more than three and a half years of fighting Islamist insurgents in the country. Despite the announcement by Wagner, Russia will continue to have its presence in Mali as the Africa Corps, a paramilitary force also controlled by Russia, will continue to stay in the country. Why is Wagner Group leaving Mali? The Africa Corps said on its Telegram channel that Wagner's departure would not introduce any changes, and the Russian contingent will remain in Mali. "Mission accomplished. Private Military Company Wagner returns home," the group announced via its channel on the messaging app Telegram. The Wagner Group has been in Mali since the army expelled the French and United Nations troops that were fighting Islamic insurgents for a decade. Wagner's presence in Africa and what it gets in return To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video With waning Western influence in the region, Russia has rushed in to fill the gap and offer assistance. Wagner said that it has successfully brought all of the country's regional centers back under the control of the Malian military junta. What do we know about the Africa Corps? The Africa Corps was formed with the Russian Defense Ministry's support after Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin and commander Dmitry Utkin led a failed military mutiny against the Russian army leadership and left Russia for Belarus with other mercenaries. Prigozhin was later killed in a plane crash north of Moscow, with US officials suggesting that a bomb or sabotage on board brought down the plane. About 70-80% of the Africa Corps group is made up of former Wagner mercenaries, according to several Telegram chats used by Russian mercenaries seen by Reuters news agency. Around 2,000 mercenaries are deployed in Mali. It is unclear how many are with Wagner and how many are part of the Africa Corps, according to US officials. Edited by: Wesley Dockery
Straits Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Africa Corps to stay in Mali after Russia's Wagner mercenary group leaves
MOSCOW/DAKAR - The Africa Corps, a Kremlin-controlled paramilitary force, said on Friday it will stay in Mali after Russia's Wagner mercenary group leaves following a 3-1/2 year fight against Islamist militants. Wagner has been in Mali since the army, which seized power in two coups in 2020 and 2021, kicked out French and United Nations troops involved in fighting Islamic insurgents for a decade. The Africa Corps was created with the Russian Defence Ministry's support after Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin and commander Dmitry Utkin led a failed military mutiny against the Russian army leadership and left Russia for Belarus with other mercenaries. About 70-80% of the Africa Corps is made up of former Wagner mercenaries, according to several Telegram chats used by Russian mercenaries seen by Reuters. Wagner posted on social media that it was returning home after its mission in Mali had been successfully completed. It added it had brought all of the country's regional centres back under the control of the Malian military junta, pushing out Islamist forces and killing their commanders. Wagner did not say what its fighters would do back in Russia. The Africa Corps said on its Telegram channel that Wagner's departure would not introduce any changes as the Russian contingent will remain in Mali. "Russia does not lose ground, but on the contrary, continues to support Bamako now at a more fundamental level," it said, referring to the capital city. The Malian defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for a comment. A spate of attacks erupted in recent weeks, which insurgents said killed more than 100 Malian soldiers and some mercenaries. Jama'a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM), an insurgent group in West Africa's Sahel region, claimed responsibility for the violence in recent days, including a bombing attack on Wednesday against Malian and Russian soldiers near Bamako. Russia has been seeking to replace Wagner with the Africa Corps in Mali, Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel programme at Germany's Konrad Adenauer Foundation, said in an interview. "The takeover by the Africa Corps means that the Russian military engagement in Mali will continue, but the focus might change more to training and providing equipment and less actual fighting jihadists." REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Russia's Wagner mercenary group says it is leaving Mali after 'mission accomplished'
MOSCOW/DAKAR (Reuters) -Russia's Wagner mercenary group said on Friday it was leaving Mali after fighting Islamist militants for three-and-a-half years and returning home after its mission in the African country had been successfully completed. Wagner said via its channel in Telegram that it had brought all of the country's regional centres back under the control of the Malian military junta, pushing out Islamist forces and killing their commanders. Wagner did not say what its fighters would do once they were back in Russia. The announcement follows a spate of attacks in recent weeks that insurgents say killed more than 100 Malian soldiers as well as some mercenaries. Jama'a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM), an insurgent group in West Africa's Sahel region, claimed responsibility for the violence in recent days, including a bombing attack on Wednesday against Malian and Russian soldiers near Bamako. Wagner has been in Mali since the army, which seized power in two coups in 2020 and 2021, kicked out French and U.N. troops that had been involved in fighting the Islamist insurgents for a decade and replaced them with Russian mercenaries. Wagner's withdrawal from Mali does not mean that the West African country will be without Russian fighters though. The Africa Corps is still in Mali. The Corps was created with the support of the Russian Defence Ministry after Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin and commander Dmitry Utkin led a failed military mutiny against the Russian army leadership and then left Russia for Belarus with other mercenaries. Russia has been seeking to end Wagner's deployment to Mali to replace them with the Africa Corps, Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel programme at Germany's Konrad Adenauer Foundation told Reuters. "The takeover of the Africa Corps means that the Russian military engagement in Mali will continue, but the focus might change more to training and providing equipment and less actual fighting jihadists," Laessing said. The Africa Corps is "about 70-80%" made up of former Wagner mercenaries, according to several Telegram chats used by Russian mercenaries seen by Reuters. The Malian defence ministry did not immediately respond to request for a comment.
Straits Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Russia's Wagner mercenary group says it is leaving Mali after 'mission accomplished'
Russia's Wagner mercenary group says it is leaving Mali after 'mission accomplished' MOSCOW/DAKAR - Russia's Wagner mercenary group said on Friday it was leaving Mali after fighting Islamist militants for three-and-a-half years and returning home after its mission in the African country had been successfully completed. Wagner said via its channel in Telegram that it had brought all of the country's regional centres back under the control of the Malian military junta, pushing out Islamist forces and killing their commanders. Wagner did not say what its fighters would do once they were back in Russia. The announcement follows a spate of attacks in recent weeks that insurgents say killed more than 100 Malian soldiers as well as some mercenaries. Jama'a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM), an insurgent group in West Africa's Sahel region, claimed responsibility for the violence in recent days, including a bombing attack on Wednesday against Malian and Russian soldiers near Bamako. Wagner has been in Mali since the army, which seized power in two coups in 2020 and 2021, kicked out French and U.N. troops that had been involved in fighting the Islamist insurgents for a decade and replaced them with Russian mercenaries. Wagner's withdrawal from Mali does not mean that the West African country will be without Russian fighters though. The Africa Corps is still in Mali. The Corps was created with the support of the Russian Defence Ministry after Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin and commander Dmitry Utkin led a failed military mutiny against the Russian army leadership and then left Russia for Belarus with other mercenaries. Russia has been seeking to end Wagner's deployment to Mali to replace them with the Africa Corps, Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel programme at Germany's Konrad Adenauer Foundation told Reuters. "The takeover of the Africa Corps means that the Russian military engagement in Mali will continue, but the focus might change more to training and providing equipment and less actual fighting jihadists," Laessing said. The Africa Corps is "about 70-80%" made up of former Wagner mercenaries, according to several Telegram chats used by Russian mercenaries seen by Reuters. The Malian defence ministry did not immediately respond to request for a comment. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
