The BBC’s Feras Kilani travelled to its dangerous northern desert region - the only international journalist to go there in the past year - to meet people caught up in the chaos.
This part of northern Mali is beyond government control and is run by groups of Tuareg separatists and Islamist extremists linked to al-Qaeda - they don’t exactly get along but they have reached a mutual understanding to leave each other alone.
But now the mercenaries’ notorious leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, is believed to have died in a plane crash, leaving questions over operations here and fears that Mali is in an even more precarious position.
And earlier this year, the UN accused Wagner of committing atrocities alongside the Malian army, describing “alarming accounts of horrific executions, mass graves, acts of torture, rape and sexual violence” in the Mopti area.
The BBC has not been able to verify where the video was filmed, but in it, Prigozhin said the group was making Africa “more free” and that Wagner was exploring for minerals as well as fighting Islamist militants and other criminals.
But with hundreds of sites like this across the country, Mali manages to produce more than 60 tonnes of gold a year, making it one of Africa’s top five exporters of the precious metal.
The original article contains 1,665 words, the summary contains 215 words. Saved 87%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The BBC’s Feras Kilani travelled to its dangerous northern desert region - the only international journalist to go there in the past year - to meet people caught up in the chaos.
This part of northern Mali is beyond government control and is run by groups of Tuareg separatists and Islamist extremists linked to al-Qaeda - they don’t exactly get along but they have reached a mutual understanding to leave each other alone.
But now the mercenaries’ notorious leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, is believed to have died in a plane crash, leaving questions over operations here and fears that Mali is in an even more precarious position.
And earlier this year, the UN accused Wagner of committing atrocities alongside the Malian army, describing “alarming accounts of horrific executions, mass graves, acts of torture, rape and sexual violence” in the Mopti area.
The BBC has not been able to verify where the video was filmed, but in it, Prigozhin said the group was making Africa “more free” and that Wagner was exploring for minerals as well as fighting Islamist militants and other criminals.
But with hundreds of sites like this across the country, Mali manages to produce more than 60 tonnes of gold a year, making it one of Africa’s top five exporters of the precious metal.
The original article contains 1,665 words, the summary contains 215 words. Saved 87%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!