Mali: Russian mercenary hostages released

Amid escalating tensions in Mali, two Russian mercenaries taken hostage by jihadists and Tuareg separatists have been released, according to RFI via AFP on August 23rd.

The hostages were former fighters for Russia’s Wagner Group, a paramilitary organisation that now operates under the Russian Africa Corps.

On July 27th, 2024, they were captured by the al-Qaeda-affiliated JNIM and the Tuareg-led Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) during fighting in Tinzaouatène, near the Algerian border in northern Mali.

According to FLA spokesperson Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, in July 2024, Russian mercenaries “tried to take possession of Tinzaouatene, the last base of civilians who fled their abuses.”

Malian and Russian forces have been implicated in human rights abuses, including targeted killings of the Fulani community, which is persecuted throughout the Sahel over alleged Islamist ties.

In June 2025, the Wagner Group was replaced by the Russian Africa Corps after suffering significant losses in northern Mali.

Following their August 20th release, the Russian soldiers were transported to Libya, where they were transited through the eastern Benghazi region.

Benghazi is a stronghold of Khalifa Haftar, whose son, Saddam, reportedly has connections within the ranks of Tuareg separatist rebels.

The Russian Africa Corps praised the Russian military command’s “effective efforts and actions” and “the active support of the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Libyan National Army, Saddam Haftar,” in securing the soldiers’ release.

Reportedly, their release was also secured “thanks to the involvement of countries friendly to the Sahelian juntas ” and to various rounds of negotiations organised in Libya “over the past three months.”

“Sahelian juntas” likely refers to Mali’s junta-led Sahel allies, Burkina Faso and Niger; all three countries are former French colonies that have increasingly rejected Western ties in favour of strategic and security partnerships with Russia.

FLA rebels receive Ukrainian funding and have waged war against Malian authorities since their latest uprising began in 2012.

In their quest for autonomy for a northern region they call Azawad, the FLA have allied with JNIM, which seeks to destabilise Mali’s junta and install an Islamic Republic.

Malian Armed Forces (FAMA) and the Wagner Group regained control of Kidal, a Tuareg stronghold in northern Mali, in November 2023.

Since April 25th, FLA rebels and JNIM have launched coordinated attacks across Mali; the FLA recaptured Kidal, and JNIM has imposed a renewed blockade on Bamako.

RFI via AFP, Maghrebi.org