# Mali's army and Russian allies accused of mass civilian abuses

> Human Rights Watch documents killings, drone strikes and torture by Malian forces and Wagner paramilitaries, while jihadists and separatists also commit war crimes.
- Title: Mali's army and Russian allies accused of mass civilian abuses
- Summary: Human Rights Watch documents killings, drone strikes and torture by Malian forces and Wagner paramilitaries, while jihadists and separatists also commit war…
- Keywords: mali, human rights watch, war crimes, civilian abuses, russian paramilitaries, wagner group, africa corps, jihadist groups, tuareg separatists, international humanitarian law, news, world
- Source: RFI — https://rfi.fr/en/africa/20261019-malian-army-and-rebels-committing-abuses-against-civilians-rights-group-hrw-says
- Read time: 2 min
- Topics: mali, human rights watch, war crimes, civilian abuses, russian paramilitaries, wagner group, africa corps, jihadist groups, tuareg separatists, international humanitarian law, news, world
## Rights group documents grave violations
Human Rights Watch published a report Monday saying Mali's military, armed groups and insurgent forces are committing grave laws-of-war violations while international organisations and governments largely stand by.

> The Malian military, armed groups and insurgent forces are committing grave laws-of-war violations while international organisations and governments largely stand by.
## Mali's decade-long security crisis
Mali has been plagued since two thousand twelve by a security crisis pitting the army and its Russian allies against jihadist fighters, Tuareg separatist groups and criminal gangs.
## Junta turns to Russia for military support
The junta that has ruled Mali since back-to-back coups in two thousand twenty and two thousand twenty-one enlisted paramilitaries from the Wagner Group, which became the Africa Corps in two thousand twenty-five.
## Army and Africa Corps kill civilians
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.

> 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's research methodology
The report is based on interviews between thirty July and twenty September with thirty people in central and northern Mali, including human rights activists, community leaders, journalists and a Malian soldier.
## Indiscriminate drone attacks documented
HRW documented two apparently indiscriminate Malian military drone attacks. One partially destroyed a health centre in Talhandak village in the northern Kidal region in July.
## Market attack kills six civilians
Another drone attack hit a market in the central village of Tombonkore in August, killing six civilians and injuring at least twenty others, according to HRW.
## Soldiers kill girls and civilians
Malian soldiers shot and killed five girls during a counter-insurgency operation in mid-July in the central Segou region.Their Dozo militia allies killed three civilians later that month in the central Mopti region, all with impunity.
## Jihadists torture and execute soldiers
On eighteen July, the al-Qaeda-affiliated JNIM and the Azawad Liberation Front attacked a military convoy in Tabrichat in the northeastern Gao region, then tortured and executed at least nineteen Malian soldiers taken prisoner.
## Jihadists and separatists deny responsibility
The JNIM admitted prisoners were killed at Tabrichat but denied having ordered the deaths. The FLA acknowledged clashes with the army and Russians but denied executing soldiers.
## African Union urged to act
HRW urged the African Union's Peace and Security Council to urgently take action to prevent further atrocities in Mali.
## Key takeaway

Human Rights Watch says Mali's military and Russian paramilitary allies have killed civilians in violation of international law, while jihadist and separatist groups have tortured and executed soldiers.