Tuareg rebels say 131 Wagner soldiers and mercenaries have died in last month’s fighting

Aug. 2 (EUROPA PRESS) –

Tuareg rebels in northern Mali say their forces killed 84 mercenaries from the Russian Wagner group and 47 soldiers last month during fighting in the town of Tinzauatene, in the north of the country and near the border with Algeria, in one of the bloodiest episodes of the conflict that reopened after the dissolution of the fragile peace agreement that reigned until the current Malian military junta came to power.

Regarding casualties among the rebels, the spokesman for the Permanent Strategic Framework for Peace, Security and Development (CSP-PSD), the unofficial name of the guerrillas, Mohamed Ramadane, has announced on his account on the social network X that the fighting that occurred on July 25, 26, 27 resulted in nine dead, 12 wounded and three vehicles destroyed.

In contrast, in addition to the casualties among the Malian and Wagner ranks, the spokesman added that seven of the rebels’ enemies were captured during these clashes, where the Tuareg seized “a large quantity of ammunition and material containing useful information.”

On Monday, the Kremlin-affiliated Initiative for Africa group estimated that more than twenty soldiers and mercenaries had died in the fighting. The Malian army has confirmed only two deaths and 10 wounded.

The CSP-PSD adds that “the clashes against this terrorist coalition are part of a Machiavellian plan to carry out an ethnic cleansing aimed at depopulating Azawad of its natives” and were carried out “exclusively” by the Tuareg, although the spokesman “extends his hand” on behalf of the group “to all groups or states that suffer the brutality of Wagner’s terrorism” to “eradicate this scourge.”

The spokesman also denounced an attack on July 30 against a group of miners from Niger, Sudan and Chad in the Tinzauatene area, which reportedly left 50 civilians dead, according to the Tuareg organisation, which blames Burkina Faso for providing support for the bombing.

“The CSP-DPA warns the Burkina Faso junta not to get involved in a conflict that does not concern it, far from its borders, and for which it will bear the full consequences,” Ramadane warned.

The Malian army has only confirmed that it had carried out bombings in the area that same day, although it has clarified that it targeted positions of the Tuareg rebels. The authorities in Burkina Faso, a country which, like Mali, is also under a military junta close to Russia, have not commented on the matter.