IED event in Mopti, Hombori area, Mali on Tue 19th July 2022

A Russian national operating with Malian soldiers was killed by an explosion in central Mali, a region plagued by jihadist groups, AFP learned Wednesday from corroborating sources. This is the first confirmed death of a Russian in the framework of military operations in Mali since the junta in power in Bamako has called massively on what it presents as "instructors" from Russia while the West (France and the United States in particular) denounce the presence in the country of "mercenaries" of the private Russian militia Wagner, which the Malian colonels firmly deny. According to a security source, a detachment made up of Malian soldiers and "Russian instructors" was attacked with an improvised explosive device near the town of Hombori on Tuesday morning. The explosion left "one dead", a "Russian instructor", who died after being evacuated by air to SevarŽ, some 260 km to the south-east, the same source added.