The mercenary Wagner group will be the main beneficiary as international peacekeepers prepare to quit and jihadists step up attacks, Malian junta leader Col Assimi Goïta pronounced himself very satisfied on his Twitter account following a lengthy phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on 14 June. The two men discussed Russian deliveries of wheat, fertiliser and fuel, while Goïta also thanked Putin for the latter s assistance in fighting terrorism and stabilising the situation in Mali.
The five ruling colonels are digging in for a long stay – but neither Wagner s mercenaries nor the army are stemming the jihadist tide, The military junta is making itself comfortable. That much was clear on 21 February when the National Transitional Council (NTC), a hastily convened rubber-stamp parliament of 120 placemen of the colonels in Bamako, unanimously voted to hold elections in five years time.