PARIS, 12 January 2022, (TON): From 300 to 400 Russian mercenaries are operating in central Mali, a senior French armed forces ministry official said, challenging an assertion by the West African country’s junta that only Russian military trainers are deployed there.

The 15-state regional bloc said “other West African nations have closed their borders with Mali, severed diplomatic ties and imposed economic sanctions in response to its delay in holding elections following a 2020 military coup.”

The moves were also a response to the arrival of private military contractors from the Russian Wagner Group, whose members are mostly ex-service personnel.

The French official told reporters “I would say there are around 300-400 members of Wagner and there are also Russian trainers, who provide equipment.”

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Russian mercenaries had deployed with Malian forces to the center of the country.

Mali’s junta, which has proposed a five-year transition rather than stepping down in February as initially planned, has said the new forces are military instructors who came with equipment they bought from Russia.

The European Union has imposed sanctions on the Wagner Group, accusing it of clandestine operations on the Kremlin’s behalf. President Vladimir Putin has said the group does not represent the Russian state, but that private military contractors have the right to work anywhere in the world as long as they do not break Russian law.