Tuareg separatists say they have “annihilated” enemy columns and seized a large amount of equipment and weapons.
A predominantly Tuareg separatist coalition has scored a major victory over Mali's army and its Russian allies after three days of intense fighting in a district on the border with Algeria.
“Our forces decisively annihilated these enemy columns on Saturday,” Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, spokesman for the Permanent Strategic Framework for Peace, Security and Development (PSF-PSD) alliance, said in a statement on Sunday.
“A large quantity of material and weapons were confiscated or damaged” and they were taken prisoner, the statement said, adding that seven rebels were killed and 12 wounded in the fighting in the Tinzaouatene district.
Mali's military rulers, led by Colonel Assimi Goita, seized power in 2020 and turned to the Wagner Group of Russian mercenaries for security assistance, after expelling French forces in 2022.
The Tuareg are an ethnic group that has been fighting for independence since 2012.
Large-scale fighting broke out between the West African nation's army and separatists in Tinzaouatene on Thursday after the army announced it had retaken control of several districts.
Tinzaouatene is almost entirely surrounded by Algerian territory and has been the scene of other battles between separatist forces and the army over the past decade.
The CSP-PSD also claimed to have damaged a helicopter, which crashed in Kidal, a rebel stronghold. Separatist groups lost control of several districts in 2023 after an offensive in which military government forces took Kidal.
The Malian army said in a statement that two soldiers were killed and 10 others wounded. One of its helicopters crashed in Kidal on Friday during a routine mission, but there were no deaths, it said.
Adama Gaye, a journalist, author and former head of the Economic Community of West African States, told Al Jazeera on Sunday that Tuareg forces may be receiving outside help, including from the French military and regional armed groups “loyal to al-Qaeda”.
Wagner fighters are reported to be involved
In some of the videos shared by the rebels with the AFP news agency, white soldiers were seen among the prisoners, the agency said in a report on Sunday.
A local official and former UN mission worker in Kidal told AFP that the Malian army had withdrawn with at least 15 fighters from Russia's Wagner Group killed or arrested.
Mossa Ag Inzoma, a member of the separatist movement, said “dozens” of Wagner fighters and soldiers had been killed or taken prisoner.
Several Russian military bloggers reported that at least 20 members of the Wagner Group were killed in an ambush near the Algerian border.
“Wagner PMC Employees [Group]“In Mali, 11,000 people were killed while travelling in a convoy with government troops… Some were captured,” said prominent Russian military blogger Semyon Pegov, who uses the name War Gonzo.
The Baza Telegram news channel, which has links to Russian security structures, reported that at least 20 Wagner fighters have been killed.
Al Jazeera was unable to independently verify the blogger's or AFP's reports.
Mali has said the Russian forces are not Wagner mercenaries but trainers who are helping local troops with equipment purchased from Russia.
Baza's report on Sunday said Wagner fighters have been in Mali since at least 2021.
Meanwhile, there have been several allegations of violations of civilian rights by the Malian army and Wagner's forces, accusations which the Malian authorities deny.
Violence perpetrated by rebels linked to Al Qaeda and ISIS, as well as community-based self-defense organizations and criminals, has also shaken Mali since 2012.
