Mali¡¯s government has denied any deployment of Russian mercenaries from the Wagner group following charges by a group of 15 Western powers involved in the fight against jihadis in the Sahel country.

The government ¡°gives a formal denial to these baseless allegations¡± of ¡°an alleged deployment of elements from a private security company in Mali,¡± it said in a statement released late Friday.

Mali¡¯s government ¡°demands that proof be brought to it by independent sources¡± and said ¡°Russian trainers¡± were in Mali as part of strengthening the operational capacity of the national defense and security forces.