SENEGAL: Tuareg separatist coalition, a major ethnic group in Mali, claimed on Sunday a major victory over the Malian army and its Russian allies following three days of intense fighting in Tinzaouatene district on the Algerian border.
"Our forces decisively obliterated these enemy columns on Saturday. A large amount of equipment and weapons were seized or damaged" and prisoners taken, according to a statement by Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, spokesman for the CSP-DPA alliance.
Fighting on a scale not seen in months broke out Thursday between the army and separatists in Tinzaouaten, near the border with Algeria, after the army announced it had taken control of In-Afarak, a commercial crossroads in Kidal.
"Russian mercenaries and Malian armed forces have fled," he added. Others have surrendered and the Malian army has retreated," a local politician told AFP, citing at least 17 dead in a provisional toll. The CSP people are still in Tinzaouaten. The army and Wagner are no longer there," he added, referring to the Russian mercenary group.
Mali has been unsettled by violence by jihadist and criminal groups since 2012. The West African nation's military leaders that took power in a 2020 coup have made it a priority to retake all of the country from separatist and jihadists forces, particularly in Kidal, a pro-independence northern bastion. A junta led by Colonel Assimi Goita took power in 2022 and broke the country's traditional alliance with France, in favour of Russia.
Separatist groups lost control of several districts in 2023 after a military offensive that saw junta forces take Kidal, the pro-independence northern bastion and a major target for the government.
There have been several accusations of rights abuses of the civilian population by the army and Wagner forces. Mali authorities have denied the allegations.
(with inputs from AFP)