Hundreds of Russian paramilitary fighters now active in Mali, French official sayspublished at 10:59 BST
Matt Murphy
BBC Verify senior journalist
Image source, TelegramHundreds of Russian soldiers from a new paramilitary force have been deployed to Mali to help quash a growing Islamist insurgency against the ruling military junta, a senior French defence official has told BBC Verify.
Following the withdrawal of the Wagner Group – a Russian private military company – in June, French defence officials have been tracking the influx of the Moscow-backed Africa Corps and believe there are now 2,500 mercenaries operating in the West African country.
BBC Verify has authenticated footage showing heavily armed troops associated with the paramilitary force active in combat operations in rural areas since the deployment began in June.
Africa Corps operations have been extensively documented on the group’s Telegram channel and other allied social media accounts. In one clip, geolocated by BBC Verify to the town of Niono in the central Segou region, heavily armed troops could be seen in the aftermath of intense clashes. The men carried AK-style assault rifles and at least one was armed with a GP-25 grenade launcher.
Other clips posted to the Telegram channel and also geolocated to the outskirts of Niono showed dozens of bodies, apparently of insurgents who were likely killed in the operation along with large quantities of arms and motorcycles being recovered by Africa Corps and Malian military forces.
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