Russian Africa Corps suffering losses in Mali
At least three Russian Africa Corps fighters died as the result of a jihadist attack on August 1st, as reported by FRANCE24 on 13th August. The troops were part of a paramilitary convoy near TĂ©nenkou in the Mopti region which was carrying supplies from Niono towards a base at Dioura.
Members of the Jama’at Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM) jihadist group recorded footage of the dead Russians, the first images to emerge from the region since Africa Corps took over from the private Russian Wagner forces in Mali in June this year.
The videos were filmed on August 1st by fighters who are part of JNIM, an al-Qaeda affiliate in the Sahel region. They show bodies, some of white men, near a destroyed Russian military truck. Another shows an injured white man being executed, according to the outlet.
The rattle of automatic gunfire is heard in the background of each video, which were shared first on jihadist WhatsApp channels before making their way onto X.
In the videos, the jihadists refer to the dead man as “Wagner,” the private paramilitary company founded by the late Yevgeny Prigozhin, which ended operations in Mali this June. The Russian group Africa Corps has replaced it. The videos show the group’s first defeat in Mali, reports the outlet.
On August 2nd, online analysts published videos they said showed a helicopter in a retaliation operation against the JNIM fighters, although the location was not confirmed.
Shortly after the ambush, JNIM published a statement through its official media outlet Az-Zallaqa, claiming to have captured a “military vehicle, 16 Kalashnikovs, two PK machine guns, ammunition and various other pieces of equipment.”
Africa Corps have received online criticism from Russian military bloggers, many of whom claim that Russian troops underestimate operations in Mali – which are often comparable, or superior, to the war in Ukraine, as reported by the outlet.
Although only three mercenary bodies are visible in the videos, an anonymous regional specialist stated that the Russians lost many more men due to not having the right equipment for fighting against a counterinsurgency.
The Malian Armed Forces published a statement on August 1st confirming that there was an ongoing ambush but provided no further details.
FRANCE24, Maghrebi
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