Free Republic

Breaking news on the crisis in Niger; a PMC Wagner (Russian-language site at link) source has stated: A decision was made to deploy combat troops of the Wagner PMC in & around the capital of Niger, in light of current security situation & foreign threats.PMC Wagner, also known as the Wagner Group, is a Russian state-funded military group controlled by Putin ally Yevgeny Prigozhin, and technically operates outside Russian law, which prohibits private military groups.PMC Wagner is also the group implicated in an aborted coup attempt in Russia last June, which led to the arrest of Russian General Sergei Surovikin....

Russian-controlled forces in Syria have been roaming deeper into U.S.-held territory, raising the risk of conflict in an apparent effort “to challenge our presence in the northeast,” according to a senior State Department official. “These are not daily occurrences, but they have been increasing in number,” James Jeffrey, the State Department’s lead negotiator for the Syria crisis, told reporter

Seven Russian mercenaries have been killed by ISIS-linked militants in Mozambique - including four who were shot and then beheaded. The Russians, fighting for the shadowy state-affiliated Wagner Group, were killed in two separate attacks last month, according to sources in the Mozambique military. Both attacks were ambushes in Mozambique's northern Cabo Delgado state, where ISIS first announced its presence in June this year. ... Russia has been supplying arms and military equipment to Mozambique to help in its fight against Islamist insurgent groups since signing a pact in early January 2017. However, the deal did not stipulate the supply...