Russian troops deploy to Mali’s Timbuktu after French exit
Al JazeeraArmy spokesperson says the Russian soldiers are in the northern city to train Malian troops. Mali’s army spokesperson has said Russian soldiers have deployed to the northern city of Timbuktu to train Malian forces at a base vacated by French troops last month amid persistent insecurity in a country where large swaths of territory are out of the government’s control. The Malian government said late last year that “Russian trainers” had arrived in the country, but Bamako and Moscow have so far provided few details on the deployment, including on how many soldiers are involved or the Russian troops’ precise mission. On December 23, a group of Western countries led by former colonial power France, which in 2013 intervened militarily to help push back advancing armed groups that threatened to seize the whole of Mali, sharply criticised what they said was the deployment of Russian mercenaries working for the controversial Wagner Group. The withdrawal of French troops from Timbuktu, a city they helped to recapture from al-Qaeda fighters in 2013, is part of a significant drawdown of a previously 5,000-strong task force in West Africa’s Sahel region.
History of this topic
Mali rebels say they killed and injured dozens of soldiers, Wagner mercenaries in fighting
Hindustan Times
Mali separatists claim major victory over army, Russian allies
New Indian Express
Mali rebels claim major victory over army, Russia’s Wagner group
Al Jazeera
French military: Last group of soldiers has left Mali
Associated Press
French accuse Russian mercenaries of staging burials in Mali
Associated Press
French accuse Russian mercenaries of staging burials in Mali
Al Jazeera
Mali and France, a timeline of mounting tensions
Al Jazeera
Western powers slam ‘deployment’ of Russian mercenaries in Mali
Al Jazeera
French forces leave Mali’s Timbuktu after nearly nine years
Al Jazeera
Mali approached Russian military company for help: Lavrov
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