Mali's army, Russian mercenaries kill nine civilians in vehicle attack: Rebels

Nine civilians, including women and children, were killed in an attack on a vehicle in Mali’s Segou region last week, according to a civil society group and a coalition of Tuareg rebels. Both groups accused Malian forces and Russian mercenaries of causing the tragedy.

The vehicle was travelling from the town of Niono to a refugee camp in Mauritania on Thursday (January 2) when it came under fire, Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, a spokesperson for the Tuareg rebel coalition seeking an independent homeland in northern Mali, said Saturday (January 5).

Ramadane and the local civil society association Kal Akal alleged that Malian armed forces and fighters from Russia’s Wagner Group, a private military contractor, carried out the attack.

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In a separate statement, the leader of Kel Ansar, one of the largest Tuareg groups, called for an investigation into the killings but denied Malian troops were involved.

Wagner Group, Malian army’s human rights record

Wagner fighters have been operating in Mali since the military seized power in coups in 2020 and 2021, expelling French and UN troops. The group has been supporting Malian forces in their fight against Islamist insurgents and Tuareg separatists.

In December, Human Rights Watch accused Mali’s armed forces, with support from Wagner, and Islamist armed groups, of committing serious abuses against civilians, violating international laws of war.

“Since May 2024, Malian armed forces and the Wagner Group have deliberately killed at least 32 civilians, including 7 in a drone strike, forcibly disappeared 4 others, and burned at least 100 homes in military operations in towns and villages in central and northern Mali,” HRW said in a recent report.

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The organisation also claimed that two Islamist armed groups, the Al-Qaeda-linked Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wa al-Muslimeen (JNIM) and of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), have executed at least 47 civilians and displaced thousands of people since June 2024.

The JNIM has also allegedly burned over 1,000 homes and looted thousands of livestock.

With inputs from agencies