Wagner Group announced it will withdraw from Mali after West African countries have called it “complete their main tasks.”

Russian mercenaries have been operating there since 2021, working with the military to challenge Islamic militants.

Wagner said in a message on the Telegram channel that it "fights side by side with the Malian people" and killed "thousands of militants and their commanders who had horrified for years."

The withdrawal announcement came on the same day, reporting that Mali soldiers were evacuated from the main base in the center of the country after a second fatal attack in less than a week.

Mali has been fighting radical Islamic insurgency for more than a decade.

The military seized power a few years ago after accusing the government of failing to cope with this insecurity.

The French army initially deployed left the country in 2022. By then, the military government in charge of Mali had already begun to cooperate with Russian mercenaries to fight against the insurgents.

In recent weeks, jihadists' attacks on military bases in the Sahel state have undergone a revival.

Last Sunday, an al-Qaeda contact team said it had carried out major attacks on the town of Blikissi and the Army Base.

Sources quoted by Reuters said more than 30 soldiers were killed.

Then on Monday, the same group - Jama'a Nusrat Ul -Islam Wa al -Muslimin (JNIM) said it targeted the army in the historic city of Timbuktu, where residents reported hearing gunfire and explosions.

The rebels also attacked an army post in the village of Mahou in southeast Sikasso, killing five people.

Soldiers retreated to the Boulkessi base after a new attack on Thursday killed several people, locals told the news agency AFP.

A military source said the departure was "strategic" and "as required by the hierarchy."

The increased attacks in the Sahel region have raised concerns about Wagner's performance in the region.

Although paramilitary groups have announced their withdrawal from Mali, Russian forces will still play an active role in the country's security landscape.

Fighters from the African Legion - a competing Russian mercenary designed to absorb Wagner's activities on the African continent - will remain in Mali.

Russia has an increasing military, political and economic influence in West and Central Africa.

Friday's announcement did not state whether Wagner would leave the Central African Republic, where its African headquarters is located.