The New York Times published on 1 November 2024 an article titled "How Wagner's Ruthless Image Crumbled in Mali" by Christiaan Triebert, Elian Peltier, Riley Mellen, and Sanjana Varghese.
This is a detailed account of the defeat in July 2024 of the mercenary Wagner Group in Mali's desert north near the Algerian border at the hands of separatist Tuareg tribesmen and an al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist organization. At least 46 Wagner Group mercenaries and 24 allied Mali soldiers died in the debacle involving a convoy of about 2 dozen heavily armed vehicles. The loss was Wagner's largest ever in Africa and demonstrated the vulnerabilities and limitations of the group. Three years after the Wagner Group arrived in Mali, the security situation has not improved.