U.S. authorities have shared information with Chad that the Russian paramilitary group Wagner is working with rebels to destabilize the government, the Wall Street Journal reported Feb. 23.

The head of the Wagner paramilitary group is working with Chadian rebels to destabilize the government and possibly even kill the president, a key Western ally in the fight against terrorism, according to US, African and European officials.

“Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin is actively planning to destabilize the Chadian transitional government and has offered material and operational support to the Chadian rebels to carry out a plot that could include plans to eliminate Chadian transitional president Mahamat Idriss Déby to take control of the Chadian government,” a senior US official said.

Current threats to the Déby government come from alliances between Chadian rebels and Wagner, including in Libya and the Central African Republic, according to US and African officials.