Mali: has the deployment of Russian soldiers, or even Wagner, started?
A mercenary of the Wagner militia in the Central African Republic (illustrative image).
© Franceinfo
Text by: David Baché
2 min
Are the men of the Wagner Group starting to deploy in Mali?
This is what certain information obtained by RFI seems to indicate on the movement of troops in the direction of the center of the country.
According to several testimonies cross-checked by RFI, vehicles of the Malian army left Bamako at the beginning of the week with, on board, white soldiers.
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About twenty on Monday, fifty on Tuesday ... According to several corroborating testimonies, personnel carriers, equipment and tankers of the Malian army left Bamako in the direction of Ségou then Sévaré, in the center of the country .
On board, "
several
" white men were in fatigues.
No precise figure could be put forward by the witnesses who in Bamako and Ségou confided in RFI.
When they move, even during joint operations with the Fama, French soldiers from Barkhane, UN from Minusma or European from Takuba use their own vehicles.
So who are these passengers?
“
We have the same information,
confirms a senior officer of the French army.
And we think they're Wagner's men, but we don't have any compelling evidence.
This French soldier recalls that fifteen countries were already worried about the presence of Russian mercenaries in Mali, a week ago, after observing the construction of a camp on the 101 air base, north of the airstrip. Bamako airport.
"
We also have information on the presence of one or more geologists close to Wagner in Ségou, Kayes and Sikasso
", continues this high-ranking French officer, who evokes the identification and securing of mining sites.
The Malian army denies
"
It is believed that 50 to 80 Russian advisers are today in Bamako and the surrounding area
"
,
continues the French high-ranking official.
Wagner?
The Russian army?
"
The authorities maintain the ambiguity
", according to this source, who affirms not to have obtained a clear answer from the Malian general staff in which one strongly denies.
"
This is false,"
says the spokesperson for the Malian army.
If we wanted to transport Wagner's men, we wouldn't go by road, in full view of everyone
!
We have planes, we could do it more discreetly.
This information is incorrect.
"
On December 23, fifteen Western countries had already condemned in
a joint statement
the deployment of Wagner's mercenaries in Mali.
Bamako had denied such a deployment and, already, demanded evidence assuring to be engaged "
only in a partnership state to state with the Russian Federation, its historical partner
".
►
To read also: First reaction of the authorities of the transition to the press release on Wagner in Mali
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