video of the crash of the plane carrying Wagner’s mercenaries

The military junta does not communicate, but the images speak for themselves. A video of the crash of a Malian army transport plane on Saturday September 23 in Gao, in the north of Mali, has been circulating on social networks since Wednesday. We see the aircraft, a Russian-made IL-76, land, then continue its crazy course until leaving the runway. It disappears in a plume of dust then explodes.

The plane belonged to the Malian army and was transporting in particular soldiers from the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, we learned on Sunday from a military source and from emergency services. No official toll has been communicated but the human and material toll is heavy, said an airport and diplomatic source without elaborating further on the number of victims.

“The plane that crashed belongs to the Malian army and I confirm that the aircraft was on a mission to Gao with partners“, a Malian military official told AFP. “On Sunday, investigators returned to the field. Saturday evening, injured white people were transported by another plane to an unknown destination», assured an airport source. “When the survivors arrived yesterday in Gao, there were almost only Russian soldiers from Wagner», For his part affirmed a source close to the firefighters.

Bilateral cooperation with Russia

The causes of the accident are not known but a spokesperson for the German army, still present in Gao as part of the United Nations mission in Mali (Minusma), said that the accident plane was a “Russian-built IL-76 model“. The Gao military airport is used by the Malian army as well as by its Russian partners and Minusma.

The ruling junta in Mali has pushed the French anti-jihadist force out in 2022 and the UN force in 2023, to turn militarily and politically towards Russia. She says she enlisted the services of “instructors» as part of bilateral cooperation with Russia and denies the presence of Wagner, although the presence of the Russian security group is commonly acquired by other actors working in Mali.

This crash occurred in a context of growing tensions between the various armed actors in the area and the Malian army. Since August, the regions of Timbuktu and Gao have been the scene of a succession of attacks against army positions and against civilians. The army and armed groups are competing for control of the territory as Minusma withdraws.