Russia has deployed troops to Mali to help the country deal with an Islamist insurgency. DW. As many as 400 troops are in Timbuktu. This does not include troops from Russia's Wagner Group company of mercenaries, which Mali has been criticized for allowing in their country. Mali denies that Wagner is operating in the country. France is especially upset as they have 5000 troops stationed in Mali also assisting in the fight against Jihadis. But France has been pulling back from North Africa, leaving a vacuum for Russia to fill. Mali is a fairly unstable country with an Islamist insurgency and multiple coups occurring since 2012.
My Comment:
Looks like Russia has colonial ambitions of their own in Africa. China is famous for investing millions of dollars into Africa and has essentially taken over several countries in the region. It looks like Russia is gearing up for the same play. Today it's just a small amount of troops but who knows what tomorrow will bring?
Of course if France hadn't started to pull out of North Africa there wouldn't have been a window for Russia to climb through. France seems tired of their own colonial adventures in North Africa and have scaled back their involvement. That of course left a power vacuum and it's not surprising that Mali asked Russia for help.
It's too bad as well, as France has had some success in defeating Islamists in North Africa. Their victories haven't been as extensive as the ones America had in the Middle East, but they have greatly reduced the leadership and troops of these terror groups. To pull back now when it seems like real progress is being made was a mistake.
It is interesting that the Wagner Group has come up again. Unlike other people I don't really think that Wagner is under the direct control of Russia. Why? Because Russia didn't seem to care too much that we destroyed an entire companies worth of mercenaries during the Syrian Civil War. The Russian government probably does have some influence with them, but I don't think they are officially sponsored.
I don't think the small amount of troops that Russia is sending will be enough to do much. 400 troops is nothing and I don't know how much they can accomplish. I am sure Mali is grateful for the help but in the end it's going to be Mali itself that defeats the insurgents... or not.
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