Russian mercenaries were killed in Mali

Between five and seven members of the Afrika Korps (formerly Wagner) were killed in clashes with Al-Qaeda-linked militants in North Africa.

At least seven mercenaries from the Russian private military company Wagner were killed in an attack by Jamaat al-Islam wal Muslimeen, an al-Qaeda affiliate in North Africa. This was reported by the SITE Intelligence monitoring group on Friday.

Among the booty captured by the militants are weapons and ammunition. Video footage from the scene posted on the Internet showed the bodies of five Caucasian men in military uniforms next to a damaged military vehicle. The authenticity of the video has not yet been confirmed.

Former fighters of the "Wagner" KHK (now the "African Corps") also suffered serious losses in a clash with militants near the Mali-Algeria border in July.

Local sources of the Reuters agency confirmed the death of mercenaries. One of the representatives of the Malian army said that he saw the bodies of seven people. Two local officials reported that five mercenaries of the "Wagner" group were killed.

An expert on conflict and security in the region told Reuters that the attack was carried out by "Katiba Masina" affiliated with "Al-Qaeda". The dead Russians were fighters of the "African Corps", the "Wagner" contingent in Africa is a new unit reorganized after the death of its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin in a plane crash in August 2023.