Yet capitalising on the Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin's crossing of the Rubicon in his short-lived march on Moscow on 24 June Libyan rumour-merchants claimed that Kharouba had been attacked with Turkish-made drones belonging to the Government of National Unity (GNU) in Tripoli headed by Prime Minister Abdel Hamid Dubaiba...

As Wagner's putsch led by mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin unfolded in Russia on 23-24 June many in Africa saw strong parallels with the bid for power launched by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo 'Hemeti' and his Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan on 15 April...

WAGNER'S NEXT ACT IN AFRICA It is too early to conclude much about how Yevgeny Prigozhin's putsch in Russia might affect Wagner's operations in Africa but these factors could shape diplomatic and security developments: Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov long distanced from Putin's inner circle may claw back some influence with Moscow's diplomats attempting to reassert their authority and credibility overseas after the embarrassing developments on 23-24 June...

They cannot understand the US persistence with linking Hemeti to Yevgeny Prigozhin's Wagner group and Russia even when the supporting evidence is sketchy at best...

Wagner's chief Yevgeny Prigozhin set up a mining company Merowe Gold Mining Co and started joint ventures with Hemeti's family as well as companies owned by the SAF...

Maslov who cut his teeth in the Donbass region of Ukraine in 2014 and has been blamed for the 2018 assassination of three Russian journalists in the Central African Republic was reportedly charged by Yevgeny Prigozhin to set up the Mali operation...

Lavrov's Southern African sojourn coincided with the expulsion of French troops from Burkina Faso amid reports that fighters from Wagner Group the mercenary outfit owned by Putin ally Yevgeny Prigozhin were operating alongside the national army...

The group invited television presenters on African networks including four from Afrique Media previously linked to Yevgeny Prigozhin and Wagner...

It resents the western view that its role in the region is nothing more than the Wagner Group run by Yevgeny Prigozhin a Vladimir Putin confidant...

Deutsche Welle reported on 4 October that Wagner's head Yevgenyi Prigozhin had offered to work with Traoré...