Setbacks and heavy losses for the Malian army and its Russian allies

The Malian army and its Russian allies suffered a major setback and heavy losses on Saturday during battles against separatists in the north of the country, according to a separatist spokesman, a local elected official and a former UN worker.

He added that Azawad fighters were in control of the situation in Tanzawatine and further south in the Kidal region. Russian mercenaries and the Malian armed forces (FAMAS) had fled. Others had surrendered.“We are in a state of chaos,” Mohamed Mawloud Ramadan, spokesman for the Tuareg separatist armed group alliance, told AFP, citing videos showing many bodies of the Malian army and its allies.

“The Malian army is retreating”A local elected official told AFP that at least 17 people were killed in an initial report. “The CSP personnel are still in Tinzawaten. The army and Wagner are no longer there.”He added that the fighting today took place south towards Abipara.

“At least 15 Wagner fighters killed and arrested”

Former UN mission staffer in Kidal speaks out “At least 15 Wagner fighters killed and captured after three days of fighting”. “The PSOE rebels took advantage of what happened in Tinzawatine. (…) There are reinforcements from Famas that left Kidal for the border between Mali and Algeria. We also saw planes in the sky.”he added. The executive officer of the separatist movement, Moussa Ag Nzoma, confirms that this happened. “Dozens of Wagner and Fama's sons were killed and captured.”.

Fighting on a scale not seen in months erupted on Thursday between the army and separatists in the town of Tinzaouatene, near the border with Algeria, after the army said it had taken control of In Afrak, a commercial centre 122 km (76 miles) northwest of Tessalit in the Kidal region. The military junta that has been in power in Mali since 2020 has made reclaiming national territory one of its priorities.

Armed separatist groups have lost control of several areas in the north since late 2023 after an offensive by the Malian army that culminated in the capture of Kidal, a stronghold of independence demands and a key sovereignty issue for the central state.