The Wagner Group has announced it is withdrawing from Mali following what it called "the completion of its main mission" in the West African country.
The Russian mercenary group has been operating there since 2021, working with the military to challenge Islamist militants.
In a message on its Telegram channel, Wagner said it had "fought terrorism side-by-side with the people of Mali", killing "thousands of militants and their commanders, who terrorised civilians for years".
The withdrawal announcement comes the same day as reports that Malian soldiers had pulled out from a major base in the centre of the country, after it came under a second deadly attack in less than a week.
Mali has been grappling with a militant Islamist insurgency for more than a decade.
