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Malian armed forces and the Russia-backed Wagner Group
deliberately killed at least 32 civilians, including seven in a
drone strike, kidnapped four others, and burned at least 100
homes in towns and villages in central and northern Mali since
May, the rights group said.
Human Rights Watch also accused jihadi groups in the region of
having summarily executed at least 47 civilians and displaced
thousands of people since June. It said the groups burned
thousands of houses and looted livestock, which is vital to the
survival of the nomadic communities in the region.
“The Malian army with the Wagner Group and Islamist armed groups
have been targeting civilians and their property in violation of
the laws of war,” Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior Sahel researcher at
Human Rights Watch, said in the report.
Mali, along with its neighbors Burkina Faso and Niger, has for
over a decade battled an insurgency fought by jihadi groups,
including some allied with al-Qaida and the Islamic State group.
Following military coups in all three nations in recent years,
the ruling juntas have expelled French forces and turned to
Russia’s mercenary units for security assistance.
Wagner has been present in Mali since late 2021 following a
military coup, replacing French troops and international
peacekeepers to help fight the militants. At the same time, the
mercenary group has been accused of helping to carry out raids
and drone strikes that have killed civilians.
In December last year, the United Nations ended its decade long
peacekeeping mission in Mali, known as MINUSMA following the
government’s request that alleged the force was inadequate to
respond to the insurgency.
“Since MINUSMA left Mali a year ago, it has been extremely
difficult to get comprehensive information on abuses, and we are
deeply concerned that the situation is even worse than
reported,” Allegrozzi said.
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