US remains ‘deeply concerned’ about Wagner activity in African countries
Mike Brest
Video Embed
The Biden administration remains concerned over the Wagner Group’s influence in various African countries, even after the paramilitary’s short-lived attempted rebellion.
About a week ago, the group’s founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, declared a “march for justice,” ordering his troops to go to Moscow in what appeared at the time to be a direct threat to President Vladimir Putin’s grip on power in Russia. He called off his troops, even though they faced limited resistance in the beginning stages of their operation, which was prompted in part because the Russian military sought to fold the Wagner group into its own ranks.
GOP SHIFT FROM FREE TRADE IS IRREVERSIBLE, TRUMP TRADE REPRESENTATIVE LIGHTIZER SAYS
The National Security Council believes the events of the last week or so will not limit its operations in countries such as Mali and the Central African Republic. The Wagner Group has long been involved in various African countries, pillaging their land for resources, in exchange for security.
“Since 2016, Wagner has infiltrated African countries, like the Central African Republic, and more recently Mali, undermining their sovereignty, stealing their natural resources, killing their people,” NSC coordinator John Kirby told reporters on Friday. “No indication that Wagner is decreasing its intent to exploit African countries despite the events of last week.”
The NSC official said the Malian transition government has paid more than $200 million to Wagner since late 2021, while terror attacks and violent crime have increased in Mali’s “center region” since the group was deployed there in December 2021. Kirby also claimed that Prigozhin and his forces attempted to “eliminate” an African leader from Chad.
The Biden administration classified the paramilitary group a significant transnational criminal organization in January, while a bipartisan group of senators has sought to pass a bill that would require the State Department to designate it a foreign terrorist organization.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“Wagner personnel have engaged in an ongoing pattern of serious criminal activity, including mass executions, rape, child abductions, and physical abuse in the Central African Republic (CAR) and Mali,” the treasury department’s readout from the time said. The new designation came out “for being responsible for or complicit in, or having engaged in, the targeting of women, children, or any civilians through the commission of acts of violence, or abduction, forced displacement, or attacks on schools, hospitals, religious sites, or locations where civilians are seeking refuge, or through conduct that would constitute a serious abuse or violation of human rights or a violation of international humanitarian law in relation to the CAR.”
Prigozhin’s troops have largely departed the front lines of Russia’s war in Ukraine, where they led the battle for Bakhmut, which was the bloodiest and deadliest to this point. Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said on Thursday that “some elements” of the Wagner group remain in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory, while Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, the head of Ukraine’s military, told the Washington Post, “We didn’t feel that their defense got weaker somewhere or anything.”