German forces spotted several dozen presumably Russian troops at Gao airport in northern Mali on Monday. The were spotted the day the last French soldiers wrapped up their operations and left the town, according to a German military document dated Tuesday.
Troops from the Wagner Group, a Moscow-linked private military company, have been backing the Malian army in its fight against Islamist militants since late last year.
On Monday, German and British U.N. troops observed two planes at Gao airport, an Embraer 314 Super Tucano and an L-39 Albatros, Germany’s joint military operations command said in a document seen by news agency Reuters.
“Two hours later…, 20 to 30 persons in military uniforms not belonging to Mali’s forces were seen unloading equipment from a Malian transport plane,” the document said.
“They were almost certainly members of the Russian security forces. It has to be assumed that the L-39 has to be operated by Russian forces as the Malian security forces are not up to it,” the letter said.
“With the deployment of Russian forces and Russia providing high-value capabilities (ground attack aircraft) at Gao airport, the Malian forces are continuing to expand their area of operations with Russia’s support towards the northeast,” the German military said in the document.
Meanwhile Al Qaeda’s affiliate in Mali said on Monday it had killed four Wagner mercenaries in an ambush around Bandiagara in central Mali, reported Reuters.
The media unit for Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM), said in a statement its fighters clashed with the mercenaries on Saturday in Mopti region, according to a translation by the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist statements.
Mercenary group Wagner is not publicly represented and could not be reached for comment.
