140 mercenaries dead: Wagner plane explodes on landing

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The transport plane Il-76 lands, but does not stop. Video of the accident on Saturday shows the plane rolling down the runway and bursting into flames.

The plane belonged to the Malian army, a military representative told the AFP news agency on Sunday. The plane “with allies” that crashed on Saturday was operational in Gao.

There are mainly Russian Wagner mercenaries on board

Those close to the rescuers said that when the survivors arrived, mostly Russian Wagner soldiers were seen. There was initially no official information about damage and casualties. Sources speak of up to 140 Wagner mercenaries who died in the accident.

Investigators returned to the crash site on Sunday, a source at Gao Airport said. The injured had already been transported to an unknown destination by another plane on Saturday evening. An airport official said the crashed plane was “overloaded.”

The military government is working with Russia

Gao Airport is currently used by both Malian soldiers and their Russian allies, as well as the UN peacekeeping mission Minusma.

Mali has been the scene of an uprising by Islamist extremists for years, which started in the north of the country in 2012 and later spread to neighboring countries Niger and Burkina Faso. Since 2013, Minusma has been intended to help bring peace to the country and protect the civilian population.

However, the military government in Mali, which came to power in a coup in 2021, called in June for the immediate withdrawal of the UN mission from the West African country. The background is growing tensions between the junta and the countries involved in the operation. The military government is increasingly cooperating with Russia and the Wagner mercenary group and, for example, from the perspective of France and Germany, it is hindering the UN operation. (AFP/neo)

Source: Blick