Tuareg separatists say they ‘obliterated’ enemy columns and seized a considerable amount of gear and weapons.
A primarily Tuareg separatist coalition has claimed a significant victory over Mali’s military and its Russian allies following three days of intense preventing in a district on the Algerian border.
“Our forces decisively obliterated these enemy columns on Saturday,” stated an announcement by Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, spokesman for the Everlasting Strategic Framework for Peace, Safety and Improvement (CSP-PSD) alliance on Sunday.
“A considerable amount of gear and weapons have been seized or broken”, and prisoners have been taken, the assertion stated, including that seven rebels have been killed and 12 wounded within the preventing within the Tinzaouatene district.
Mali’s army rulers, led by Colonel Assimi Goita, took energy in 2020 and turned to Russia’s Wagner Group of mercenaries for safety help, after expelling French forces in 2022.
The Tuareg are an ethnic group who’ve been fighting for independence since 2012.
Giant-scale preventing broke out on Thursday between the West African nation’s military and the separatists in Tinzaouatene after the military introduced it had retaken management of a number of districts.
Tinzaouatene is sort of fully surrounded by Algerian territory and has been the scene of different battles between separatist forces and the military over the previous decade.
The CSP-PSD additionally stated it broken a helicopter, which crashed in Kidal, a insurgent stronghold. Separatist teams misplaced management of a number of districts in 2023 after an offensive that noticed forces from the army authorities take Kidal.
The Malian military stated in statements that two troopers had been killed and 10 injured. One in every of its helicopters crashed in Kidal on Friday whereas on a routine mission, however nobody was killed, it stated.
Adama Gaye, a journalist, writer and former director of the Financial Neighborhood of West African States, advised Al Jazeera on Sunday that Tuareg forces could possibly be receiving outdoors assist, together with from the French army and regional armed teams with “allegiance to al-Qaeda”.
Wagner fighters reportedly concerned
In among the movies shared by the rebels with the AFP information company, white troopers have been seen among the many prisoners, the company stated in a report on Sunday.
A neighborhood official and a former employee with the United Nations mission in Kidal advised AFP the Malian military had retreated with at the very least 15 fighters from Russia’s Wagner Group killed or arrested.
Mossa Ag Inzoma, a member of the separatist motion, claimed that “dozens” of Wagner fighters and troopers had been killed or taken prisoner.
A number of Russian army bloggers reported that at the very least 20 from the Wagner Group have been killed in an ambush close to the Algerian border.
“Workers of the Wagner PMC [Group], who have been transferring in a convoy with authorities troops, have been killed in Mali … Some have been captured,” stated a outstanding Russian army blogger Semyon Pegov, who makes use of the identify Warfare Gonzo.
The Baza Telegram information channel, which has hyperlinks to Russia’s safety buildings, reported that at the very least 20 Wagner fighters have been killed.
Al Jazeera couldn’t independently confirm the blogger’s or the AFP’s stories.
Mali has stated Russian forces are usually not Wagner mercenaries, however trainers serving to native troops with gear purchased from Russia.
Baza’s report stated on Sunday that Wagner fighters have been in Mali since at the very least 2021.
In the meantime, there have been a number of accusations of rights abuses of the civilian inhabitants by the Malian military and Wagner forces. Malian authorities deny the allegations.
Violence by rebels linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS), in addition to neighborhood self-defence and prison organisations, has additionally rocked Mali since 2012.