Mali's former defense minister Gen. Sadio Camara, who played a key role in the country's shift toward Russia, was buried in a ceremony broadcast on state television.

Officials in the Central African Republic have said that Russia has called on the country to replace the private Wagner mercenary group with Moscow’s state-run Africa Corps and requested payment for further security services.

The Russia-backed Wagner Group says it is leaving Mali after more than three and a half years of fighting Islamic extremists and insurgents in the country.