At least four members of Russia’s Africa Corps were killed in an ambush near Niono in central Mali, according to local sources cited by French international broadcaster RFI. The attack was claimed by JNIM, an al-Qaeda-linked militant coalition fighting Malian forces and their Russian allies.
RFI placed the attack on Monday, September 28, between Tiemaba and Wewo, north of Niono in the Ségou region. Military vehicles were reportedly targeted with drones before militants moved in, seized equipment and filmed footage later circulated through the group’s propaganda channels.
AFP separately reported that at least three Malian soldiers and four Russian personnel were killed in an ambush near Niono, citing security and local sources. However, its report dated the attack to Sunday, September 27, leaving uncertainty over whether both accounts describe the same incident.
JNIM claimed seven Russian personnel were killed or wounded, without providing separate totals. RFI’s sources reported at least four Russian deaths and wounded personnel receiving treatment in Niono, but gave conflicting accounts of whether Malian soldiers were also present.
Neither the Malian army nor Africa Corps had disclosed losses in the reporting reviewed. AFP said the army acknowledged an attack on a convoy near Niono, while a military statement covered by Malian newspaper L’Essor described strikes against militant positions in the area.
Africa Corps, the Russian military force supporting Mali’s army, claimed a joint operation in Ségou on Monday killed up to 30 militants. It did not specify the location, and the available reporting did not establish whether that operation was connected to the reported ambush.
Meanwhile, the Azawad Liberation Front, a separatist movement fighting government forces in northern Mali, claimed drone attacks on an army camp in Goundam, in the Timbuktu region, on Tuesday. RFI reported that the group provided no casualty toll and that the army had not commented on the claim.
