Dozens of civilians killed in April by Mali’s army: UN report

At the very least 50 civilians have been killed and greater than 500 arrested in sweep by Malian and ‘overseas troops’ on April 19, UN says.

At the very least 50 civilians have been killed and greater than 500 have been arrested throughout a navy operation carried out by Mali’s military and “overseas troops” on April 19, the United Nations has stated.

The alleged bloodbath befell on market day in Hombori municipality, within the central area of Douentza, after a Mali navy convoy hit an improvised explosive gadget, the UN stated in a report on Wednesday.

“At the very least 50 civilians [including a woman and a child] have been killed and greater than 500 others arrested, the UN’s peacekeeping mission MINUSMA stated in a quarterly report on human rights violations between April and June.

The report didn't specify who the overseas fighters have been. Mali’s navy spokesman didn't instantly reply to a request for remark.

The UN has repeatedly accused Malian troopers of summarily executing civilians and suspected fighters throughout the course of their decade-long battle towards teams linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS).

The navy has in some circumstances acknowledged that its forces have been implicated in executions and different abuses, however few troopers have confronted felony costs.

Mali’s navy authorities, which has been in energy since 2020, has introduced in Russian operatives it describes as navy trainers.

Western nations describe them as mercenaries from the pro-Kremlin Wagner group.

Their presence has been a key consider France’s choice to withdraw its troops from Mali – a former colony that it has supported in a decade-long battle towards an armed group insurrection that has claimed hundreds of lives and compelled a whole lot of hundreds from their houses.

The final French soldier in Mali underneath the long-running Barkhane mission left the nation on August 15.

The MINUSMA report stated 96 civilians have been killed throughout operations by Malian safety forces between April 1 and June 30, whereas seven disappeared and 19 have been injured.

A report by specialists to the UN, seen by the AFP information company in early August, stated “white-skinned troopers” accompanied Malian troopers on the scene of killings in March within the Segou area close to the Mauritanian border, through which 33 civilians died.

In April, Human Rights Watch (HRW) stated about 300 folks, most of them ethnic Fulanis, have been killed in Moura in central Mali in March by Malian forces “or related overseas fighters” – a veiled reference to suspected Russian operatives.

Mali’s military stated that it killed 203 “militants” in Moura.