Mali’s armed forces, supported by Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group, have committed widespread abuses against civilians since the withdrawal of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in December 2023, according to a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report released Thursday. The rights group accuses both the Malian military and Wagner mercenaries of deliberately killing at least 32 civilians, including seven killed in a drone strike, as well as abducting four individuals and burning over 100 homes in towns and villages in central and northern Mali.

The report documents a surge in civilian casualties and property destruction since May 2023, attributing many of the attacks to the Malian forces and Wagner, who have been operating in the country since the military coup in 2021. Human Rights Watch states that these actions amount to violations of international humanitarian law.
“The Malian army, in collaboration with the Wagner Group and armed Islamist groups, have targeted civilians and their property, constituting grave violations of the laws of war,” said Ilaria Allegrozzi, the senior Sahel researcher at Human Rights Watch.
In addition to the abuses committed by Malian forces and Wagner, the report also accuses jihadi groups active in the region, including factions affiliated with al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, of executing at least 47 civilians. These groups have also displaced thousands, burned villages, and looted vital livestock that supports the nomadic communities in Mali’s central and northern regions.

Since the military junta took power in Mali in 2021, the country, along with its neighbors Burkina Faso and Niger, has faced escalating violence from insurgent groups. These groups, many of whom are linked to global jihadist networks, have created severe instability in the Sahel region. As the insurgency grew, the ruling juntas in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger expelled French forces and increasingly turned to Russia, including the Wagner Group, for military assistance.
Wagner forces have been present in Mali since late 2021, following the junta’s request for help after the expulsion of French troops. Since then, the mercenary group has been implicated in various violent actions, including drone strikes and raids on villages that have resulted in numerous civilian casualties. These actions, in combination with attacks by Islamist militants, have made the region one of the most dangerous in Africa.
The situation worsened with the departure of the United Nations’ peacekeeping mission, MINUSMA, in December 2023, at the request of the Malian government, which criticized the mission as ineffective in countering the growing insurgency. Since MINUSMA’s exit, access to reliable information about human rights violations has been significantly limited, leaving the international community in the dark about the full extent of the crisis.
“Since MINUSMA left Mali a year ago, it has been extremely difficult to get comprehensive information on abuses, and we are deeply concerned that the situation is even worse than reported,” Allegrozzi said.
The withdrawal of peacekeepers and the increasing presence of Russian mercenaries have added to the uncertainty in Mali, where civilians continue to bear the brunt of the violence, with little to no protection from international peacekeeping forces. Human Rights Watch has called for accountability and an end to impunity for those responsible for the atrocities.