BAMAKO: Two fighters for former Russian paramilitary group Wagner who were captured in Mali two years ago during clashes with terrorist-allied Tuareg rebels have been released, sources told AFP Saturday.
The two men were taken prisoner in July 2024 in a battle for the northern town of Tinzaouatene between Malian government forces — backed by Wagner fighters — and an ethnic-Tuareg separatist movement allied with the Al-Qaeda-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM).
The Malian army and Wagner — which has since been replaced by Russia’s Africa Corps paramilitary group — admitted sustaining heavy losses in the battle.
The captured men were released Thursday, according to security and diplomatic sources.
“They were being held in northern Mali and left Thursday for Libya, where they have now arrived,” a security source told AFP.
