HRW says all sides in Mali committed grave abuses during April violence
Human Rights Watch has accused jihadists, the Malian army and its Russian allies of committing grave abuses against civilians during and after April attacks in Mali. The report says civilians were killed and civilian vehicles were burned in attacks attributed to JNIM fighters, while counterinsurgency operations against Fulani communities also caused heavy civilian losses. It adds that the violence took place as fighting flared again across the country.
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The report says abusive operations by the Malian army and its allies led to the killings of 38 civilians, including 23 children. It also says Mali's military carried out two apparent drone strikes that killed 10 adults and 12 children and teenagers. Human Rights Watch said it interviewed 30 witnesses, verified and geolocated videos and photographs posted on social media, and analysed satellite imagery.
The findings add to scrutiny of Mali's military-led authorities and their reliance on Russian partners in the fight against armed groups. The country has faced more than a decade of violence involving militants linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, as well as a Tuareg separatist rebellion in the north. The report says the latest abuses fit a repeated pattern of harm to civilians and that impunity continues to drive the cycle of violence.
April's attacks were described as the largest coordinated assault in more than a decade, with targets including the airport in Bamako, the nearby garrison town of Kati, and several northern and central cities. The violence also exposed weaknesses in Mali's counterinsurgency strategy, which has increasingly depended on Russia after the government distanced itself from former partners such as France. The report places the civilian toll within a wider conflict that has spread across the Sahel and intensified in recent years.
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Human Rights Watch said the abuses were committed by all warring parties, including JNIM fighters and state forces, during a period of renewed fighting. The organisation's senior Sahel researcher said the parties were repeating former patterns of harming civilians and that longstanding impunity was fuelling the cycle of abuse. The report does not say that any of the parties have been held accountable for the incidents it documented.
What remains unclear is whether the authorities in Mali or their allies will respond publicly to the allegations or open any new investigations. The report also leaves open how the civilian death toll from April's violence may be revised if further evidence emerges. For now, the findings are likely to intensify pressure on all sides to explain their conduct and on international actors to press for accountability.
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