10 civilians killed as army and russian mercenaries execute them, Mali

At least ten civilians were executed on Sunday in central Mali by Malian soldiers and Russian paramilitaries, with their bodies placed in bags and thrown into a river, according to local and security sources who spoke to AFP.

A resident of Ké-Macina in the Ségou region told AFP that eleven civilians were killed by an army detachment that had arrived in the area for a troop rotation. “Eleven civilians were executed on Sunday by a detachment of the army that came to the locality to ensure the relief,” the resident said.

The uncle of one of the victims said the ten young men had been arrested four days earlier. They were suspected of informing jihadists, he added. “The Malian military and the Russians arrested these young people before shooting them. It is a young man who was able to escape who testified,” the relative said.

A local elected official accused the Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) and members of Russia’s Africa Corps of responsibility for the killings. “Once again, the Russians and the FAMa have killed innocent civilians. They put the bodies in bags to throw them into a river,” the official told AFP.

Another local official said the eleven bodies were discovered in bags in a backwater after repeated interventions by local authorities with the gendarmerie and military. The security forces eventually led people to the site and returned some of the victims’ personal effects. “It is despair,” the official said.

A security source told AFP the victims had their throats slit. Relatives said the military initially claimed the disappearances were the work of jihadists before revealing the bodies under pressure from the local population.

Mali has been under military rule since coups in 2020 and 2021. The junta has distanced itself from Western partners and strengthened ties with Russia. Russian Africa Corps paramilitaries support Malian forces in the fight against jihadist groups. Human rights organisations have repeatedly accused Malian soldiers and the Russian paramilitaries of killing civilians during operations in the country.

The reports have not been independently verified, and there was no immediate official comment from Malian authorities.