Russia's Wagner mercenary army acknowledged Monday that it suffered heavy casualties while battling Tuareg rebels in Mali, where a pro-independence coalition claimed to have killed dozens of soldiers and foreign fighters.
In a rare statement, the Wagner Group said its troops fought alongside the Malian army last week near the country's northeastern border with Algeria, Reuters reported.
The mercenaries were commanded by Sergei Shevchenko, whose call sign was "Pond" and who was among those killed, Wagner said.
Wagner didn't detail the number of casualties but a message posted Saturday on the Telegram website said, "The three of us stayed. We continue to fight," according to Reuters.
A spokesperson for the CSP-DPA coalition, Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, said Saturday that the rebels "routed the entire column of Malian army and Russian mercenaries" during a two-day battle on the outskirts of the village of Tinzawaten, according to the Associated Press.
Ramadane said that "the enemy suffered huge losses in terms of lives and equipment, including dozens of dead and wounded" and that some Malian soldiers and Wagner mercenaries surrendered to the rebels.
A Tuareg commander said 54 Wagner fighters and seven Malian soldiers were killed, along with seven rebels, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.
Video clips posted on social media showed the bodies of several white men and Malian soldiers lying on the ground near destroyed vehicles, AP said.
On Friday night, the Malian army claimed it killed about 20 rebels and destroyed several vehicles during a rebel attack that killed two soldiers and wounded 10 others.
In its statement, Wagner said the fighting took place from July 22 to 27.
"On the first day, the 'Pond group' destroyed most of the Islamists and put the rest to flight," Wagner said on Telegram. "However, (an) ensuing sandstorm allowed the radicals to regroup and increase their numbers to 1,000 people."
The Kremlin-linked Wagner Group sent mercenaries to Mali in December 2021 to support the country's ruling military junta, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington, D.C.
The Wagner troops reportedly set up an operating base next to the Modibo Keïta International Airport near the capital of Bamako, with personnel and equipment believed to have been transported on Russian military aircraft.
