BAMAKO: Mali’s northern Tuareg rebels said they had killed and injured dozens of soldiers and Wagner mercenaries in two days of fighting near the Algerian border, after the army said it had lost two soldiers but killed some 20 rebels.

The rebel movement, the Permanent Strategic Framework for Peace, Security and Development (CSP-PSD), said in a statement on Saturday that it had seized armoured vehicles, trucks and tankers in the fighting at the border town of Tinzaouaten on Thursday and Friday.

Several Russian military bloggers reported on Sunday that at least 20 from the Wagner group were killed in an ambush near the Algerian border.

“Employees of the Wagner PMC (Group), who were moving in a convoy with government troops, were killed in Mali ... Some were captured,” said a prominent Russian military blogger Semyon Pegov, who uses the name War Gonzo. The Baza Telegram news channel, which has links to Russia’s security structures, reported that at least 20 Wagner fighters have been killed.

The rebel group also said it damaged a helicopter, which crashed in the town of Kidal, hundreds of kilometres away. The Malian army said in statements that two soldiers had been killed and 10 injured.

Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2024