The United States has imposed sanctions on three Malian officials, including the defense minister, on Monday, accusing them of facilitating the deployment and development of the Russian Wagner Group’s actions in the West African country.

The US Treasury Department said it sanctioned Mali’s Defense Minister, Sadio Camara, for making repeated trips to Russia in 2021 to cement a deal between the Wagner Group and the Malian transition government to deploy the mercenary army.

The fresh sanctions also target Mali’s Chief of Staff of the Air Force Alou Boi Diarra and Malian Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff Adama Bagayoko.

Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said “These officials have made their people vulnerable to the Wagner Group’s destabilizing activities and human rights abuses while paving the way for the exploitation of their country’s sovereign resources to the benefit of the Wagner Group’s operations in Ukraine.”

Mali’s transition government is yet to react to the sanctions which block any US assets of those targeted and generally prohibit Americans from engaging with them.

Russia and Mali have both stated that Russian fighters in the African country are not mercenaries, but rather trainers assisting local troops in fighting a decade-long insurgency by extremists.

Wagner has fought in Libya, Syria, the Central African Republic, Mali, and other nations, as well as the deadliest battles of Ukraine’s 16-month old conflict.

Washington has previously imposed sanctions on Wagner and has repeatedly warned of what it called Wagner’s destabilizing activities.

The US government earlier in June accused the leader of the mercenary force, Yevgeny Prigozhin, of assisting in the removal of UN forces from Mali.

Reuters