Amnesty International: War crimes committed by the Malian army and the Wagner group

According to Amnesty International, Malian soldiers and fighters from the Russian Wagner Group committed war crimes during joint operations in Mali. According to the human rights organization, these include murder and torture of civilians. In an investigation published on Tuesday, Amnesty International documented the deaths of at least 34 civilians in seven locations in the central Malian regions of Ségou and Mopti and the northern Timbuktu region between June 2023 and December 2025.

According to the report, "none of the victims had taken direct part in the fighting at the time of their deaths." Some were deliberately shot as they tried to escape. "Some had their throats slit, others were burned alive or after death," the report said.

Amnesty International's report highlights the case of the small village of Tin Adanda in the Timbuktu region, where four people were killed on February 12, 2025 during a patrol by the army and the Wagner Group. The organization also reports two drone strikes in the same region in March and November 2025 that killed at least 23 people, including at least five children.

Torture and ill-treatment of detainees

According to the report, there are also testimonies from 15 men who were tortured or mistreated during joint patrols by the army and the Wagner Group or during their detention at the Lere and Nampala military bases.

According to Amnesty International, most of the victims were members of the Fulani pastoralist communities, as well as Arabs and Tuaregs who were suspected of working with armed groups active in the area.

Mali has been rocked by violence for many years. The military, which has been in power since two coups in 2020 and 2021, is confronted, among other things, with a rebellion by Islamist extremists who repeatedly carry out attacks and attacks on government troops. The Russian Wagner Group supports the army in its actions against the jihadists.

In April, three civil society organizations, including the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), filed a lawsuit with the African Union (AU) Human Rights Court over alleged human rights violations in Mali involving Mali's army and the Wagner Group.