Malian troops and personnel from Russia’s Wagner Group have killed and tortured civilians during joint operations, Amnesty International said in a new report examining abuses in central and northern Mali between 2023 and 2025.
The investigation documents at least 34 civilian killings in seven localities across the Ségou, Mopti, and Timbuktu regions in central and northern Mali.
It also examines two Malian military drone strikes that killed at least 23 people, including five children.
Amnesty based its findings on interviews with 119 Malian refugees in neighboring Mauritania. It shared the findings with Mali’s authorities last month, but said it had received no response by publication.
Most victims were members of Fulani, Arab, and Tuareg communities that rely on livestock herding.
According to Amnesty, they were accused of supporting armed groups solely because of their ethnic background and because they lived in areas where those groups were active.
Civilian Killings
According to Amnesty, none of the 34 people killed were directly participating in hostilities when they died.
Victims were shot while fleeing or after being detained. Others had their throats cut or were burned alive. Some bodies were burned after death.
In Tin Adanda, a hamlet in the Timbuktu region, the organization documented four killings during a joint Malian army-Wagner patrol last year.
One survivor said two of her sons and a cousin were arrested and subsequently killed.
Amnesty also investigated drone strikes on a market in Ejdeir and a family home in Tangata.
The organization said it found no evidence of fighters or military targets at either location and called for investigations into possible war crimes.
Torture in Military Custody
Amnesty also documented torture and other abuse during joint patrols and in military detention.
Those held at the bases were not brought before a judge and had no access to lawyers or their families.
Fifteen male survivors described torture during patrols or detention at military bases. Witnesses reported that five detainees died from torture and poor conditions at the bases.
Reported methods included simulated drowning, electric shocks, beatings with metal bars and sticks, and suspension by the arms.
Survivors told Amnesty that Wagner personnel carried out most of the torture while Malian soldiers were present.
Some soldiers acted as interpreters, threatened detainees, or failed to intervene.
Wagner operated in Mali from late 2021 until June 2025, when Russia’s Africa Corps replaced it.
Amnesty urged Mali’s authorities to publish their agreement with the successor force and clarify who commands foreign personnel operating in the country.
