AFRICA/MALI - The attack on the Russian Wagner group by Tuaregs and jihadists shows the complexity of the situation in Mali

Bamako (Agenzia Fides) - On July 27, a mixed convoy of soldiers of the Malian army and mercenaries of the Russian private military company "Wagner Group" was the victim of a series of deadly attacks in north-western Mali.
The convoy was caught in an ambush near Tinzaouaten, on the border with Algeria, by the guerrillas of the "Cadre Stratégique Permanent" (CSP), who inflicted numerous casualties on the mixed Russian-Malian formation. The survivors, subsequently pursued by the CSP fighters, retreated to a valley controlled by jihadist groups, in particular the "Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin" (JNIM), which in turn attacked the Malian soldiers and their Russian collaborators, inflicting further casualties on them.
According to scant reports from the area, the Wagner group is said to have lost 50 to 80 men, while the CSP claims to have captured a number of Wagner officers, including one of those responsible for the propaganda actions. The matter is further complicated by the Ukrainian side's claim that Kyiv's military intelligence service provided assistance to the CSP to lure the Wagner group's mercenaries into an ambush. This is in line with the approach in Sudan, where a civil war has been raging since 2023 between the regular army under the command of General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary militias of the "Rapid Support Forces" (RSF) with about 100,000 fighters led by Mohamed Hamdan "Hemedti" Dagalo. The latter are supported by mercenaries from the Wagner group. According to videos posted online, Ukrainian special forces were seen taking action against Russian mercenaries in Khartoum.
On the Malian side, the situation is even more complicated. The CSP, also known as the "Cadre stratégique pour la Défense du Peuple de l'Azawad" (CSP-DPA), brings together various Tuareg independence groups that demand the independence of northern Mali. Some of them firmly oppose the jihadist movements, while others seek dialogue with them. The jihadist groups include, in particular, the JNIM, which is close to Al-Qaeda and was formed in 2017 from the merger of previous groups and is based in the area where the ambush took place, and the "Islamic State - Sahel Province", which has its strongholds further south.
To combat these various armed formations, the military junta that came to power with the coup of May 24, 2021, after excluding the French military and the UN and EU missions, turned to the Wagner Group for logistical and operational support. With unsatisfactory results so far, also because of the violence against the civilian population of which the Russian mercenaries are accused. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 3/8/2024)

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