Russia claims its African Corps prevented coup in Mali

The Russian Defense Ministry claimed Tuesday that units of its African Corps prevented an attempted coup on April 25 in Mali.

The ministry said in a statement that "illegal armed formations attempted an armed coup" last week, and that African Corps units "inflicted irreparable losses" on superior enemy forces, preventing a change of power.

"During fierce battles against superior enemy forces, units of the African Corps inflicted irreparable losses on them in personnel and equipment, forcing them to abandon their plans and preventing the coup, thereby preserving the authority of the legitimate government and preventing mass civilian casualties," it said.

The statement comes amid a series of coordinated attacks by armed groups, including al-Qaeda-affiliated militant group JNIM and the Azawad Liberation Front, a Tuareg-led rebel alliance, on Saturday across multiple cities, including the capital Bamako.

In an official statement read Sunday by Gen. Issa Ousmane Coulibaly on national television, the country’s transitional government confirmed the death of Defense Minister Sadio Camara in the attacks.

According to the communique, a suicide attacker driving a car detonated a vehicle-borne explosive device targeting the minister’s residence in Kati, a key military town near Bamako.

Camara reportedly engaged in a firefight with the assailants and managed to neutralize several of them before being seriously wounded.

He was evacuated to a hospital, where he later died of his wounds.