Human rights groups say Wagner mercenaries helped Malian army kill civilians

A Russian mercenary group known as Wagner is helping government forces in central and northern Mali carry out raids and drone strikes that have killed dozens of civilians, including many children, human rights groups said in reports released this week.

Mali and its neighbors Burkina Faso and Niger have been battling an insurgency by Islamist extremist groups, including some aligned with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, for more than a decade. All three countries have seen military coups in recent years, with ruling juntas expelling French troops and turning to Russian mercenaries for security assistance.

Violence has escalated in Mali since Russian mercenaries arrived in the country following the 2021 coup. The country’s ruling military junta has stepped up its operations, launching deadly drone attacks on civilian gatherings and conducting raids accompanied by Russian mercenaries that have killed civilians.

Residents of the Sahel region, which includes Mali, say Russia’s presence appears unchanged since Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was killed in a suspicious plane crash last year.

Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior Sahel researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement Thursday: “The Russian-backed transitional military government in Mali has not only committed horrific abuses but is also committed to eradicating the review of its human rights situation.”

Human Rights Watch cited a January raid by Russian-backed government forces as an example, saying troops entered a village near a military base in central Mali and arrested 25 people, including four children. Later that day, their bodies were found blindfolded and suffering from gunshot wounds to their heads, 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. The group said a pregnant woman injured in the blast suffered a miscarriage days after the attack.

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

Earlier this month, the military governments of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso announced the formation of joint security forces to combat worsening extremist violence in the Sahel region. This comes after the junta took steps to distance itself from other regional and Western countries that disagreed with its approach.

While the military has pledged to end insurgencies in its territories after deposing their respective elected governments, conflict analysts say the violence has worsened under their regime. They share a common border and overstretched security forces fighting extremist violence.