Could Africa see a new front open up on its soil in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict? After the unprecedented setback suffered by the Russian paramilitary group Wagner at the end of July against the Tuaregs in northern Mali, Ukraine claims to have had a key role in the battle. Quoted Tuesday by the British dailies the Guardian and the Times, Andrii Yusov, the spokesperson for GUR, Ukraine's military intelligence service, declared that 'the rebels received the necessary information, and not just information, which made it possible to carry out a military operation against Russian war criminals.'
Between July 25 and 27, a column of around fifty vehicles including more than 80 Russian mercenaries and their partners from the Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) was ambushed in northern Mali, set up by Tuareg rebels and members of the al-Qaeda-linked Islam and Muslims Support Group (JNIM). If the results are still uncertain, Telegram channels linked to Wagner - now called Africa Corps - have announced that they have suffered heavy losses. Several videos on social media show corpses of white men and Malian soldiers lying on the ground, others taken prisoner.
Ukrainian intelligence has not specified the nature or scope of their involvement. Did they provide information on the movement of the Russian-Malian convoy? Did they send instructors? The GUR spokesperson indicated that he would not give 'any details at the moment', but promised that 'further information will follow.'
For their part, the Tuareg groups who, since 2012, have been demanding the independence of the North, called Azawad, from the Malian authorities sitting in Bamako, the capital, are multiplying the parallels between their fight and that of Ukraine. In their press releases, they speak of an 'existential war against Russia' and post photos of the Ukrainian flag on social networks. A spokesperson for an alliance of armed separatist groups, the CSP-DPA, even proposed on Monday, 'as a sign of support and solidarity', to hand over mercenaries prisoners in Kiev.
The Wagner Group has apparently suffered one of its biggest military defeats to date. During three days of fighting in Mali, the Russian mercenaries suffered heavy losses, with dozens dead and prisoners. 'Our units destroyed the enemy columns on Saturday,' announced the rebels of the separatist Tuareg people after the fighting against the Wagner mercenaries and soldiers of the Malian army who tried to take the village of Tinzaouatène on the border with Algeria.
According to the report, the Wagner group, led by commander Sergei Shevchenko, initially successfully attacked enemy positions before the Tuareg rebels significantly increased the number of their attacks. The armed conflict in Mali has been raging since 2012. At that time, the Tuareg in the north started a rebellion for their independence and temporarily made a pact with Islamist terrorist groups that have since spread throughout the region.
