Russian mercenaries and Mali army accused of killing 300 civilians

Suspected Russian mercenaries participated in an operation with Mali’s army in March in which about 300 civilian men were allegedly killed over five days, Human Rights Watch (HRW) says.

Witnesses and local community leaders said hundreds of men were rounded up and killed in small groups during the anti-jihadist operation on 23 March in the central town of Moura. The rural town of about 10,000 inhabitants is in the Mopti region, a hotspot of jihadist activity that has intensified and spread to neighbouring countries in the Sahel region.

Local security sources told HRW that more than 100 Russian-speaking men were allegedly involved in the operation, which HRW described as the worst single atrocity reported in Mali’s decade-long armed conflict. Witnesses spoke of white soldiers talking in an unfamiliar foreign language they believed to be Russian.

Mali’s army has long been accused of rights abuses during counter-insurgency operations. A Mali military spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request by Reuters for comment on the HRW report.

 “Abuses by armed Islamist groups is no justification at all for the military’s deliberate slaughter of people in custody,” said Corinne Dufka, Sahel director at Human Rights Watch. “The Malian government is responsible for this atrocity, the worst in Mali in a decade, whether carried about by Malian forces or associated foreign soldiers.”

After the reports of alleged atrocities in Moura, Mali’s army said last week that from 23-31 March it killed 203 Islamist militants and detained a further 51 following intelligence reports about a meeting between rebel groups. It added that it would investigate any allegations of rights abuses.

Horrific accounts of alleged abuses by Malian forces and suspected Russian mercenaries have emerged from the town. On 27 March, witnesses said that Malian soldiers arrived by helicopter near Moura’s animal market and exchanged gunfire with jihadists. Helicopters blocked exits from the area as traders and civilians tried to escape.

The witnesses said soldiers patrolled the town, killing several unarmed men trying to flee and detaining hundreds more. The witnesses said groups of up to 10 men at a time, most from the pastoralist Fulani (also known as Peuhl) ethnic group, were killed.

One trader said he was drinking tea with his two brothers while waiting for the market to start when he heard shooting. “Seven Russians approached, gesturing for us to get up. There were no Malian soldiers with them. They searched us and the house, then took us east of the village, near the river, where we found another 100 men,” he told HRW. “Another group of Russians pointed at my brothers and another man. I thought they were going for interrogation. They took them several metres away and executed them, point blank.”

Mali, an impoverished country of nearly 21 million people, is governed by a junta that seized power in a coup in August 2020, promising to restore civilian rule. The country is under sanctions from the west Africa bloc Ecowas for ignoring an earlier commitment to hold elections in February this year.

Swathes of Mali lie outside government control, owing to a brutal jihadist conflict that started in 2012 and has spread to neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.

Germany’s foreign ministry urged Mali to hold an independent investigation into the reports of civilian deaths. “Mali’s general staff mentioned no civilian victims in its report of the operation,” the German Foreign Office said. “That is contradicted by possible witness statements that mention targeted killing of civilians.”

There has been a sharp rise in killings of civilians and terror suspects in Mali since late December, both by jihadist groups linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State, and by Malian security forces. HRW said at least 107 civilians have been killed, and that 71 of the deaths could be linked to Malian-aligned forces.

Mali’s military leadership has forged closer links with Russia after its relations soured with the west – in particular with France, its former ally and colonial-era ruler, which has committed to scaling down its forces in the Sahel.

The Malian government is battling the insurgency with the help of private military contractors from Russia’s Wagner group. Mali and Russia have previously said they are not mercenaries but trainers helping local troops with equipment bought from Russia.

Wagner, established in 2014 to support pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, is allegedly funded by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a powerful businessman closely linked to Vladimir Putin who has faced western sanctions. Prigozhin and Moscow have denied any knowledge of Wagner and, officially, private military companies are illegal in Russia. On paper the firm does not exist, with no company registration, tax returns or organisational chart to be found.