Djibouti CNN —The US has not seen a withdrawal of Wagner forces from Africa “in any substantial or meaningful numbers,” a senior US defense official said, as the Kremlin continues to weigh what to do with the Russian mercenary group following its leader’s death last month. The number of Wagner forces throughout Africa, concentrated mostly in Central African Republic, Mali, and Libya, remains “pretty stable,” the official told a small group of reporters traveling with the Secretary of Defense to Africa. There are also signs Wagner forces have been “trying to exploit” the July coup attempt in Niger to make inroads there, the official said, without elaborating. “There have been signs of official Russian military delegations going out to many countries, testing the waters about whether the official Russian military would have an opportunity to operate,” the official said. Most security experts doubt Wagner can survive without Prigozhin, posing major questions about what will happen to the group’s fighters, weapons and operations.

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Persons: Wagner, ”, “ Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner –, there’s, Prigozhin Organizations: Djibouti CNN, Africa “, Kremlin, Central, Defense, Russian Locations: Djibouti, Africa, Russian, Central African Republic, Mali, Libya, Niger, Moscow, Russia