US believes Wagner PMC may be smuggling weapons from Mali

The BBC, with reference to the US Treasury Department statement, reported that the Wagner PMC personnel may be attempting to get mines, drones, and radar technology.

The Group is known to have business in a number of African countries, including Mali. 

The US claims imply that it is attempting to take advantage of Mali's stockpile of armaments. Following the demise of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya in 2011, the country experienced an influx of weapons as mercenaries fighting for the former leader returned home.

The Wagner PMC was identified as a transnational criminal enterprise by the United States earlier this year. Sanctions have already been imposed on Prigozhin and other officials related to the organization.

The Group has been assisting Mali's military government in its struggle against Islamist rebels. Ivan Maslov the Wagner Mali chief is seen as a pivotal figure in it, collaborating with Malian officials to expand the Wagner PMC's presence. The  US Treasury Department statement also announced the imposition of sanctions against him.

“The Wagner Group's presence on the African continent is a destabilizing force for any country that allows for the deployment of the group's resources into their sovereign territory,” the US Treasury Department said in a statement. 

The Wagner Group also committed numerous human rights crimes and plundered natural resources. According to the Treasury, it may have attempted to transit material assets for Ukraine through Mali and was willing to use fraudulent paperwork for these transactions.

The statement also accused the private military organization of supplying missiles to Sudan's Rapid Support Forces in their confrontation with the Sudanese army.

• On May 25, the founder of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, announced the beginning of the units' withdrawal from Bakhmut. This was confirmed by the Ukrainian Defense Ministry.