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A clash took place Monday, January 3 between the Malian armed forces, accompanied by members of the Russian company Wagner and a jihadist group, on a road in the center of the country, according to a source familiar with the matter. The altercation occurs at a time when the question of the deployment in the country of members of the Russian group, which regarding fifteen Western countries condemned, on December 23, but which Bamako had denied, arises.
A source close to the case reports an altercation which occurred on Monday on an axis between the towns of Bandiagara and Bankass. A clash that involved soldiers of the FAMa, the Malian Armed Forces, accompanied by elements of the Russian group Wagner, opposed to men of the Katiba Macina.
According to this source close to the file, an armored vehicle first jumped on an improvised explosive device. An exchange of fire then took place between the two groups and an injured Russian was evacuated to Sévaré hospital. Citing several sources that he was able to contact, the journalist of France 24 Wassim Nasr evokes several deaths on the side of the jihadists.
#Mali according to several sources, a first altercation took place yesterday, 3.01.22, between #Wagner & jihadists, one confirmed wounded on the Wagner side, some sources mention several deaths on the jihadist side, near Mandoli on the road between Bandiagara and Bankass pic.twitter.com/dpZN9SQyE8
— Wassim Nasr (@SimNasr) January 4, 2022
Last week, information collected by RFI reported troop movements towards the center of the country. Malian army vehicles were seen leaving the capital with white men in fatigues on board. 10 days ago 15 Western countries have condemned, in a joint statement, the deployment of Wagner’s mercenaries in Mali. What Bamako had then denied.
► Read also : Mali: has the deployment of Russian soldiers, or even Wagner, started?
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