In Mali, Wagner raises his flag over the town of Kidal

Wagner's black standard flew over Kidal. In a video released on November 22, the Russian paramilitary militia showed two mercenaries raising the militia flag, recognizable by its skull on a black background, on the city fort. “The flag of our orchestra (familiar name given to the group by its members) was raised over the city of Kidal,” wrote the armed group in the caption. “The locals love us.”

This demand comes eight days after the Bamako authorities announced the recapture of Kidal from the hands of fighters from the Permanent Strategic Framework (CSP), an alliance of Tuareg armed groups. On national television, Colonel Assimi Goïta, transitional president, declared that the “armed and security forces have seized Kidal”. A highly symbolic victory in this historically disputed stronghold between the northern separatists and the authorities in Bamako.

If the Malian army has not mentioned any presence of Russian auxiliaries, the Wagner group has taken charge, something unprecedented, of making its own communication. In addition to the video posted with the flag hoisted on the fort, the mercenaries, upon their arrival in Kidal, allowed themselves to be filmed by the population, a first since the deployment of the group in the country in 2021. Sahel specialist Yvan Guichaoua sees this a “radical change” in Wagnerian communication. “While the group was doing its best to remain discreet, here it is appearing everywhere in Kidal,” underlines the specialist on X, before wondering about a potential desire for self-promotion to expand its market in Africa and elsewhere . “Showcase of its supposed effectiveness in winning new markets?”

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In fact, investigators from the All Eyes on Wagner collective claim to have noted a “real campaign of coordinated influence” on the action of the Malian Armed Forces and their Russian auxiliaries in northern Mali. “The capture of Kidal is important and strategic not only for Mali, but also for the Russian militia,” underlines Lou Osborn, author of Wagner: investigation at the heart of the Prigojine system (Faubourg, 2023). “Its partnership with Bamako has been widely criticized by the international community, as has its effectiveness vis-à-vis terrorists. The choices of the junta were in some way based on this victory,” she analyzes, noting that it is also “the first major operation since the death of Prigogine and the reorganization of the Wagner system.”

The messages, relayed by accounts affiliated with the Malian junta, or linked to Prigogine, are as follows: efficiency of the Malian armed forces (FAMA), glory to the military junta, success of the Russo-Malian partnership, but also discrediting of the Tuareg rebels of the North, financing of terrorist groups by France, and finally, “a very anti-Western discourse: France and international forces have never succeeded in controlling this area, while we have succeeded,” argues Lou Osborn.

While Wagner affirms that “the residents” “love” them, the testimonies of the residents, collected by various local and international media, send another echo. Residents of the region report the terror sowed by the army and its Russian proxies on its way to the northern city. “The presence of the Malian army and Wagner in the Kidal region creates panic within the civilian population of Kidal, because when the Malian army and Wagner pass through a region, people only see abuses on peaceful populations, on the shepherds,” explains Mama Touré, member of the Kidal Municipal Council, to africanews.

Speaking to RFI, a refugee who fled his town on November 18 spoke of numerous lootings committed by Russian paramilitaries. “In the house there is nothing left. In the region, they took everything. They even wanted to shoot us for nothing.” Another resident who was able to flee to Gao, another town in northern Mali, spoke to Deutsche Welle on condition of anonymity. “There is widespread panic within the city, houses looted. We are witnessing a form of manhunt where no one is spared and there is no force that can intercede on behalf of the population.”

For its part, the Malian Ministry of Reconciliation invited the displaced populations to return to the city. A call that went unanswered, according to various testimonies. At the same time, the authorities in Bamako - who have since replaced Wagner's flag with the colors of Mali, according to RFI - carried out a powerful communication to celebrate their victory and discredit the Tuareg groups. On November 19, the Malian army claimed to have discovered a “mass grave” in Kidal, pointing the finger at rebel groups without giving details.

Attaye Ag Mohamed, head of the delegation of the Coordination of Movements of Azawad (CMA) to the monitoring committee of the 2015 Algiers peace agreement, rejected the accusation and spoke of a “farce” . Already in 2022, the Malian army had accused French soldiers, then in the phase of withdrawal from the country, of a massacre near the Gossi base, in the North. The French armed forces had denounced a staging orchestrated by the junta in Bamako and its new allies, Wagner's mercenaries, to discredit France.