Mali army, Russian paramilitaries committed 'war crimes': Amnesty

Mali coup leaders during a past press briefing. [AFP]

Members of Mali's armed forces and the Russian paramilitary Wagner group committed war crimes including murder and torture of civilians during joint operations, Amnesty International reported in a new study Tuesday.

Mali's ruling junta, which came to power in two coups in 2020 and 2021, turned to Russia for support in its fight against jihadists, notably enlisting the Wagner group paramilitaries, which later became Africa Corps.

Human rights organisations have repeatedly accused the Malian army and Russian paramilitaries of killing civilians during operations in Mali.

In its new report Amnesty said it documented the death of at least 34 civilians across seven locations in the central Segou and Mopti regions and northern Timbuktu region between June 2023 and December 2025.

According to the report "none of the victims were taking direct part in hostilities at the time of their deaths".

Some were "deliberately shot while trying to flee or after being arrested. Some had their throats slit, others were burnt alive or post-mortem".

The report highlights the case of a small hamlet, Tin Adanda, in the Timbuktu region, where four people were killed on February 12, 2025 during a patrol by the military and Wagner.

Amnesty also described two drone strikes carried out in the same region in March and November 2025 which killed at least 23 people, including at least five children.

The organisation additionally said it had gathered testimony from 15 men tortured or ill-treated during joint military and Wagner patrols or while held at the Lere and Nampala military bases.

Witnesses confirmed the torture of 30 individuals during the patrols and in the bases, and said five died at the bases from torture or poor conditions.

The vast majority of victims belonged to Fulani, Arab and Tuareg pastoral communities, according to Amnesty, which said some individuals were suspected of collusion with armed groups based "solely on their ethnic background and their presence in an area where these armed groups were active".

In April three civil society groups, including the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), filed a case before the African Union's human rights court over alleged abuses in Mali involving its armed forces and Wagner.