Mali’s armed forces and their Russian allies have killed scores of civilians in drone strikes and other alleged abuses during an intensified military offensive against insurgents, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report yesterday.
The rights group said civilian deaths linked to drone strikes more than doubled between April and August compared with the same period last year, citing data from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project (ACLED).
The report comes amid renewed fighting following coordinated attacks launched on April 25 by Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), an al-Qaeda-linked militant group, and Tuareg-led separatists.
The attacks targeted several towns and cities, including the main airport in Bamako, and killed Mali’s defence minister, highlighting the military government’s continuing struggle to contain insecurity across the West African country.
Mali’s military rulers, who seized power in coups in 2020 and 2021, have increasingly relied on Russia for assistance in their counterinsurgency campaign. The Russian paramilitary formation Africa Corps was deployed to support the government’s response to the April attacks.
According to ACLED data cited by HRW, Malian forces and Africa Corps carried out 47 drone strikes that killed 94 civilians between April and August. This compared with 22 strikes and 44 civilian deaths recorded during the corresponding period a year earlier.
HRW said some of the attacks appeared to have been indiscriminate, raising concerns about the protection of civilians during military operations.
Among the incidents documented was an August 19 drone strike on a cattle market in the Bandiagara region of central Mali, which reportedly killed six men.
The report also cited a pre-dawn drone strike on July 29 targeting a health centre in the northern Kidal region, near the Algerian border.
Beyond drone operations, HRW documented other alleged abuses by government forces. It said soldiers shot and killed five young girls in the Segou region on July 12 after mistaking them for attackers.
A spokesperson for the Malian army did not respond to a request for comment. HRW said it had also received no response to a letter sent on August 5 to Mali’s new defence minister outlining its findings.
The Malian government has previously denied allegations that its forces killed civilians during counterinsurgency operations.
The Russian embassy in Bamako did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Africa Corps’ alleged involvement in the reported abuses.
The HRW report also documented alleged violations by JNIM and Tuareg-led separatists, including the killing of 19 soldiers in the northern Gao region in July.
JNIM’s Sharia Committee acknowledged to HRW that the killings had occurred but denied ordering them, saying such acts were not part of the group’s policy.
The Tuareg-led Azawad Liberation Front also denied responsibility for executing the soldiers.
