Mali’s military and armed groups committing abuses against civilians: HRW

Soldiers, fighters and separatists in West African country committing grave laws-of-war violations, rights group finds. Save Share Mali’s military and its Russian paramilitary allies have killed civilians in breach of international law, and opposition armed groups have done likewise, Human Rights Watch (HRW) says. Soldiers and fighters “are committing grave laws-of-war violations while international organisations and governments largely stand by”, the United States-based rights watchdog said in areportreleased on Monday. It urged the African Union’s Peace and Security Council to “urgently take action to prevent further atrocities” in Mali. The West African country has been mired infighting and attackssince 2012 as the military and its allies have battled an array of armed groups, including Tuareg separatists, and criminal gangs. The military government that has ruled Mali since back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021 has turned to Russia for support, enlisting the services initially of fighters from the private Wagner Group, which became the state-controlled paramilitary group Africa Corps in 2025. The rights group said its report was based on interviews with 30 people – witnesses, human rights defenders, community leaders, journalists and a Malian soldier – conducted from late July to mid-September. “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. Armed groups “have also violated the laws-of-war, including torturing and executing captured Malian soldiers”, it added. HRW said it documented two “apparently indiscriminate” drone attacks by the Malian military. According to the report, a July 29 attack in the Kidal region of northeastern Mali destroyed part of a health facility, and a second on August 19 hit a market in the central region of Bandiagara, killing six civilians and wounding at least 20. HRW said it also documented an operation against armed groups in the Segou region in the south, where Malian soldiers shot and killed five girls, and another in the central region of Mopti, where members of the military-allied Dozo militia killed three civilians, “all with impunity”. HRW also cited an attack on a military convoy in the Gao region on July 18 by Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) and allied separatist fighters in the Azawad Liberation Front....