Russian-Backed Africa Corps Implicated in Mali Civilian Deaths
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on Malian authorities to “promptly and impartially” investigate abuses linked to operations by the Russian government-controlled Africa Corps in the country.
According to HRW, more than 100 Africa Corps fighters, accompanied by several Malian soldiers, stormed a village in the Mopti region using pickup trucks and motorcycles at approximately 5:00 a.m. on July 10. The armed men reportedly beat local men and boys, interrogated them regarding alleged links to Islamist armed groups, and shot and killed six civilians who attempted to flee.
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![Militants in Mali (file photo).]()
Human Rights Watch has enumerated multiple rights violations, accusing all parties to the conflict of unlawfully attacking civilians and of destroying and looting their homes. The rights group’s senior researcher, Ilaria Allegrozzi, said that as fighting has flared up again, the warring parties are “repeating former patterns of harming civilians”.
Since 2012, successive governments in Mali have
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Russia has said that its forces would remain in Mali and continue backing the country’s military rulers, rejecting demands from Tuareg separatists to withdraw after surprise attacks forced Russian troops out of a key northern town.
The offensive forced Russia’s Africa Corps paramilitary unit to pull out of Kidal, a strategic northern town that Russian forces helped the Malian army recapture from
Aftermath of clashes in a village in Mopti, south-central Mali (file photo).
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