Al-Qaeda-linked militant group, Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) has claimed an attack on a convoy of Malian military personnel (FAMA) and Russian mercenaries operating attached to Russia's Wagner Group (Africa Corps).

The ambush, conducted along the RN15 linking the town of Sévaré to the town of Bandiagara in Mali's Mopti region, which is seen as the 'frontier between the nation's government-held south and rebel-held north' resulted in the death of approximately seven men, with at least one Wagner member killed.

The death toll may be higher as just one video of the deceased has been released by the Islamic militant group.

What You Need to Know

In recent weeks, Islamic militant violence in Mali's central regions has increased exponentially, with rising attacks on civilians at the hands of governmental and non-governmental forces a cause for concern.

Currently, the nation is awash with non-state and state actors, each with competing objectives. Russia's Wagner group, which was recruited by the Malian junta in 2021, bolsters the military regime of Colonel Assimi Goita in exchange for resource concessions. The group has also aided the Malian army (FAMA) in its fight against insurgents in the country's north. Currently, the biggest players in the north are Jama'a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM)—an umbrella group of Islamic militant organizations such as Ansar al-Din, al-Mourabitoun (MUJAO), Katiba Macina, and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM)—the Islamic State in the Greater Sahel (ISGS), and the Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA), an umbrella group of Tuareg separatist movements.

Additionally, a recently released promotional video by Turkey's CANiK academy, a military-tactical training organization that falls under the SYS Group, showing CANiK members leaving the Azalai hotel in Bamako, points to the entry of yet another external stakeholder into the Malian security crisis.

Wagner losses in the country, as seen during the late July Battle of Tinzaouaten, have likely pushed the Malian authorities to seek out alternative security partners, particularly as each Wagner loss is oftentimes widely publicized, risking the military reputations of both Mali and Russia.

Furthermore, the use of Turkish Bayraktar drones against civilian infrastructure in recent months has elicited outrage from international rights groups. Oftentimes claiming to have hit Islamic militant 'hideouts,' the press service of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), of which Mali currently holds the rotating Presidency, continues to misrepresent military and civilian casualties, as press and internet freedom has greatly diminished in the country since General Assimi Goita seized power in 2021.

Early this month, Amnesty International called for the Malian authorities to investigate the death of at least 8 civilians, including 6 children in Inadiatafane, Timbuktu region on October 21st.

According to an eyewitness, "The drone had been flying over the market since 9am. At around 10am we couldn’t hear it anymore, but at around 11am it came back. Four people died, including two children, an infant, and a man aged around 50. Another infant, aged six months, succumbed to his injuries two hours later. A large number of people were also injured.”

Five of those who were seriously injured were rushed to Timbuktu hospital in a pick-up truck, including a woman and a nine-year-old girl with severe abdominal injuries, a one-year-old baby struck by shrapnel, and two young men, one of whom had suffered a bone fracture.

The nine-year-old girl and the baby died during their transport to Timbuktu hospital on the night of 21-22 October. The woman died two days later in Timbuktu hospital. The two young men are still in hospital in Timbuktu. The less serious cases are being treated at the Inadiatafane health centre.”