Russia's Africa Corps to stay in Mali after Wagner mercenaries leave

The Africa Corps, a Kremlin-controlled paramilitary force, said on Friday it will stay in Mali after Russia's Wagner mercenary group leaves following a three-and-a-half-year fight against Islamist militants.

Wagner has been in Mali since the army, which seized power in two coups in 2020 and 2021, kicked out French and UN troops involved in fighting Islamic insurgents for a decade.

The Africa Corps was created with the Russian defence ministry's support after Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin and commander Dmitry Utkin led a failed military mutiny against the Russian army leadership and left Russia for Belarus with other mercenaries.

About 70-80% of the Africa Corps is made up of former Wagner mercenaries, according to several Telegram chats used by Russian mercenaries seen by Reuters.

Wagner posted on social media that it was returning home after its mission in Mali had been successfully completed. It added it had brought all of the country's regional centres back under the control of the Malian military junta, pushing out Islamist forces and killing their commanders.

Wagner did not say what its fighters would do back in Russia.

The Africa Corps said on its Telegram channel that Wagner's departure would not introduce any changes as the Russian contingent will remain in Mali.

"Russia does not lose ground, but on the contrary, continues to support Bamako now at a more fundamental level," it said, referring to the capital city.

The Malian defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for a comment.

A spate of attacks erupted in recent weeks, which insurgents said killed more than 100 Malian soldiers and some mercenaries.

Jama'a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM), an insurgent group in West Africa's Sahel region, claimed responsibility for the violence in recent days, including a bombing attack on Wednesday against Malian and Russian soldiers near Bamako.

Russia has been seeking to replace Wagner with the Africa Corps in Mali, Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel programme at Germany's Konrad Adenauer Foundation, said in an interview.

"The takeover by the Africa Corps means that the Russian military engagement in Mali will continue, but the focus might change more to training and providing equipment and less actual fighting jihadists," he said.