US Plans Action This Week to ‘Hold Wagner Accountable’ in Africa – News18

The United States said Tuesday it planned to announce actions this week against the Wagner mercenary group, which carried out a mutiny in Russia, over its “death and destruction” in Africa.

“You will see additional steps by the United States to hold them accountable for actions they’ve taken,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.

He said that the measures would be announced this week and related to involvement in Africa, not the weekend violence in southern Russia.

The United States was widely expected to announce fresh sanctions at the start of the week against Wagner but held off so as not to appear to be favoring a side in a power struggle between the mercenaries’ chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Miller renewed his criticism of the Wagner mercenaries, who have been accused of wide abuses after being contracted to work in Mali and the Central African Republic.

“We believe that everywhere that Wagner goes, they bring death and destruction in their wake. They hurt local populations, they extract minerals and extract money from the communities where they operate,” Miller said.

“And so we would continue to urge governments in Africa and elsewhere to cease any cooperation with Wagner,” he said.

The UN human rights body last month reported that foreign forces — identified by the United States as Wagner — were involved in a massacre of at least 500 people in the central Malian town of Moura in March 2022.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – AFP)