In Mali, Russian Wagner mercenaries are helping the army kill civilians, rights groups say

The Russian mercenary group known as Wagner is helping government forces carry out raids and drone strikes in central and northern Mali that have killed scores of civilians, including many children, rights groups said this week. Said in reports published during the period.

Mali, along with its neighbors Burkina Faso and Niger, has been battling an insurgency fought for more than a decade by jihadist groups, including some affiliates of al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group. Following military coups in all three countries in recent years, the ruling junta has expelled French forces and instead turned to Russian mercenary units for security assistance.

Violence has increased in Mali since Russian mercenaries arrived there following the 2021 coup. Its ruling junta has stepped up operations, carrying out deadly drone strikes that have disrupted civilian gatherings, and carrying out raids with Russian mercenaries that have killed civilians.

Residents of the Sahel region, including Mali, say there has been no change in Russia’s presence since Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin died in a suspicious plane crash last year.

“Mali’s Russia-backed transitional military government is not only committing horrific abuses, it is also working to stifle scrutiny of the human rights situation,” Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior Sahel researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement Thursday. “

In one example of a raid by Russian-backed government forces in January, Human Rights Watch said troops entered a village near a military base in central Mali and arrested 25 people, including four children. Their bodies were found blindfolded and with gunshot wounds to the head later that day, reports said.

Amnesty International said in a separate report earlier this week that two drone strikes in northern Mali killed at least 13 civilians, including seven children aged 2 to 17. A few days after the attack, a pregnant woman injured in the bombing suffered a miscarriage.

Human Rights Watch has said Turkish-supplied drones in Mali are capable of delivering precision laser-guided bombs. The group has also documented how drone strikes have killed civilians. In one example, a drone strike killed at least seven people at a wedding in the Ségou region of central Mali, including two boys. The following day, a second drone strike targeted a funeral held for those killed in the previous day’s attack.

The junta that rules Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso earlier this month announced a joint security force to fight worsening extremist violence in their Sahel region. It follows steps taken by the junta to distance itself from other regional and Western countries that do not share its approach and instead rely on Russia for security assistance.

Although the armies promised to end insurgencies in their areas after ousting their respective elected governments, conflict analysts say violence has worsened under their rule. They share borders and have significant numbers of security forces fighting jihadist violence.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – The Associated Press)