HRW reports civilian killings and abuses by Mali forces and armed groups

By AFP

The Malian army and its Russian paramilitary allies have killed civilians in violation of international law, while their rebel opponents have done likewise, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Monday.

“The Malian military, armed groups and insurgent forces are committing grave laws-of-war violations while international organisations and governments largely stand by,” the rights watchdog said in a new report.

It urged the African Union’s Peace and Security Council to “urgently take action to prevent further atrocities” in the west African country.

Since 2012, Mali has been plagued by a security crisis pitting the army and its Russian allies against jihadist fighters, Tuareg separatist groups and criminal gangs.

The junta that has ruled Mali since back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021 has turned to Russia for support, enlisting the services of paramilitaries from the Wagner Group, which became the Africa Corps in 2025.

“Mali’s military and the allied Russia-controlled Africa Corps… have killed and wounded scores of civilians in attacks and in custody in violation of international humanitarian law,” HRW said.

“Islamist and separatist fighters have also violated the laws-of-war, including torturing and executing captured Malian soldiers,” it continued.

Abuses against civilians by the army and the paramilitaries have been extensively documented.

HRW’s latest report is based on interviews between July 30 and September 20 with 30 people in central and northern Mali, including human rights activists, community leaders, journalists and a Malian soldier.

The NGO said it had documented “two apparently indiscriminate Malian military drone attacks.”

One partially destroyed a health centre in Talhandak village in the northern Kidal region in July.

Another, which hit a market in Tombonkore (centre) in August, “killed six civilians and injured at least 20 others.”

It said Malian soldiers “shot and killed five girls” during a counter-insurgency operation in mid-July in the central Segou region, while their Dozo militia allies “killed three civilians” later that month in the central Mopti region — “all with impunity.”

“Human Rights Watch sent a letter to Mali’s defence minister on August 5 with findings and questions but received no response,” it added.

It also cited abuses by fighters from the Al-Qaeda-affiliated JNIM (Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims) and separatists from the mainly Tuareg Azawad Liberation Front (FLA).

The JNIM and FLA attacked a military convoy in Tabrichat, in the northeastern Gao region, in July and then “tortured and executed at least 19 Malian soldiers taken prisoner.”

The JNIM acknowledged prisoners were killed there but denied having ordered the deaths, HRW said.

The FLA, meanwhile, acknowledged clashes with the army and the Russians in Tabrichat but denied executing soldiers.