(Adnkronos) – Al Qaeda’s branch in the Sahel has claimed an attack against a Malian army convoy and “a Russian contingent” in the Gao region, in the east of the African country. A note released by the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (Jnim) states that “an army convoy and a Russian contingent were attacked with an improvised explosive device”.
The claim came after the Malian Armed Forces announced the death of “numerous terrorists” in a bombing conducted in the same Gao region, where the local branch of al Qaeda has launched an “economic jihad” against the government, blocking fuel transit and causing a crisis that has led several countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Italy, to appeal to their nationals to leave Mali.
The Russian presence in the African country is linked to Wagner mercenaries, who arrived in Bamako in recent years to support the Malian junta in the fight against terrorism, and then to the Africa Corps militia, which replaced the former group.
