内容摘要：“The list was prioritized, so that the last items to go were the secure teletypes that kept them connected to Washington,” journalist Mark Bowden wrote in his 2006 book, “Guests of the Ayatollah,” recounting the crisis. “When it was decided to begin destroying them, selected parts were culled from the various bits and either smashed with a hammer or cut in half with a saw.”

“The list was prioritized, so that the last items to go were the secure teletypes that kept them connected to Washington,” journalist Mark Bowden wrote in his 2006 book, “Guests of the Ayatollah,” recounting the crisis. “When it was decided to begin destroying them, selected parts were culled from the various bits and either smashed with a hammer or cut in half with a saw.”

The military officials spoke to AP about Russian operations on condition of anonymity. The AP verified the blogger’s video, geolocating it to the RN5 highway leading into Bamako, the Malian capital.This undated photograph handed out by the French military shows three Russian mercenaries, right, in northern Mali. (French Army via AP)

This undated photograph handed out by the French military shows three Russian mercenaries, right, in northern Mali. (French Army via AP)After the latest delivery in Conakry, trucks carrying Russian-made armored vehicles, howitzers and other equipment were again spotted on the overland route to Mali.Malian broadcaster ORTM confirmed that the West African nation’s army took delivery of new military equipment. AP analysis of its video and images filmed by the Malian blogger in the same spot as the January delivery identified a broad array of Russian-made hardware, including 152 mm artillery guns and other smaller canons.

AP also identified a wheeled, BTR-80 armored troop carrier with radio-jamming equipment, as well as Spartak armored vehicles and other armored carriers, some mounted with guns. The shipment also included at least two semi-inflatable small boats, one with a Russian flag painted on its hull, as well as tanker trucks, some marked “inflammable” in Russian on their sides.The military officials who spoke to AP said they believe Russia has earmarked the most potent equipment — notably the artillery and jamming equipment — for its Africa Corps, not Malian armed forces. Africa Corps appears to have been given air power, too, with satellites spotting at least one Su-24 fighter-bomber at a Bamako air base in recent months.

For years, French forces supported counterinsurgency operations in Mali and neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger. But France pulled out its troops after coups in Mali in 2020 and 2021, in Burkina Faso in 2022 and Niger in 2023.

Wagner Group, the most notable, deployed to Sudan in 2017 and expanded to other African countries, often in exchange for mining concessions.Follow Annika Hammerschlag on Instagram

The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visitSydney Moore and Sabrina Ootsburg were surrounded by hundreds of college athletes at AthleteCon when news broke that the $2.8 billion NCAA settlement had been

by a federal judge. In a room full of college athletes, they felt like the only two people who understood the gravity of the situation.“I’m about to get paid,” Moore said a Division I football player told her.