Tuareg rebels in northern Mali reported having killed and injured numerous soldiers and Wagner mercenaries over two days of clashes near the Algerian border. This follows the army’s statement of losing two soldiers while claiming to have killed around 20 rebels.
The rebel group, known as the Permanent Strategic Framework for Peace, Security, and Development (CSP-PSD), announced on Saturday that they had captured armored vehicles, trucks, and tankers during the skirmishes in Tinzaouaten on Thursday and Friday. They also claimed to have damaged a helicopter, which subsequently crashed in Kidal, located several hundred kilometers away.
The Malian army reported that two soldiers were killed and ten were injured. It also noted that one of its helicopters crashed in Kidal on Friday during a routine mission, but there were no fatalities.
Russian military bloggers reported on Sunday that at least 20 Wagner group members were killed in an ambush near the Algerian border. Prominent Russian blogger Semyon Pegov, known as War Gonzo, stated that Wagner PMC personnel traveling in a convoy with government troops were attacked in Mali, with some captured. The Baza Telegram news channel, associated with Russian security structures, confirmed that at least 20 Wagner fighters had been killed.
The CSP claimed in a statement on Sunday that it had defeated a Malian army battalion supported by Wagner forces. The group stated that the enemy had been “annihilated” and that the few survivors, including both soldiers and mercenaries, had been captured. The CSP reported losing seven fighters and having twelve others injured.
Wagner, which played a significant role in some of the heaviest fighting in Russia’s war in Ukraine, saw its future uncertain following the death of its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, in a plane crash in August—two months after his brief mutiny against the Russian defense establishment.
In Mali, where the military took power in coups in 2020 and 2021, authorities are combating a long-standing Islamist insurgency. They have asserted that Russian forces in the country are not Wagner mercenaries but trainers assisting local troops with equipment procured from Russia.
The Tuareg, an ethnic group residing in the Sahara region, including northern Mali, feel marginalized by the Malian government. The separatist group began an insurgency against Mali’s junta in 2012, which was later overtaken by Islamist factions. Although it signed a peace agreement with Bamako in 2015, the CSP-PSD withdrew from talks at the end of 2022.