The main jihadist alliance in the Sahel detains a Russian member of the private military company Wagner, "captured" in central Mali, according to a claim on behalf of this movement.

A first for GSIM

This is the first time that the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM), linked to Al-Qaeda, has announced the capture of a Russian engaged on the front line of the anti-jihadist fight in Mali.

However, the GSIM has not provided any evidence to attest to the veracity of its announcement made by press release on the night of Sunday to Monday.

Led by the military since 2020, Mali has made massive use of what it presents as "instructors" from Russia to support its army, while Paris and Washington regularly denounce the presence in the country of "mercenaries" from the private group. Russian Wagner, accusations firmly denied by Bamako.

A capture in early April

It was "during the first week of April" that the GSIM claims to have "captured a soldier of the Russian Wagner forces in the region of Ségou", in central Mali.

"These murderous forces participated with the Malian army in a parachute operation on a market in the village of Moura where they confronted several mujahideen before encircling this locality for five days and killing hundreds of innocent civilians", adds the press release from GSIM.

This city was the scene at the end of March of a controversial operation by the Malian army.

According to the authorities in Bamako, Malian soldiers "neutralized" 203 jihadists there, but the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) accuses members of the Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) of having summarily executed 300 civilians there, with the help of foreign fighters.

The UN mission in Mali (Minusma) has since asked the Malian authorities in vain to allow it to go there to investigate in order to shed light on these events.

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