Amnesty International said Tuesday that at least 34 civilians were killed in seven incidents in Mali between June 2023 and December 2025 during joint operations by the Malian armed forces and Russia’s Wagner Group.
The victims were not directly involved in hostilities, according to the rights group, and were “deliberately shot” while fleeing or after being arrested. Other methods of execution, such as having their throats cut or being burned, were also allegedly used to kill some people.
Amnesty documented the killings in the Mopti and Timbuktu regions. Many victims were from Fulani, Arab and Tuareg pastoral communities and were targeted because of their ethnicity or because they were in areas where armed groups operated, it said.
The organisation described the killings and other abuses as war crimes and called on Malian authorities to carry out independent investigations and ensure accountability.
“Our conclusions paint a harrowing picture of the lives of civilians trapped in the conflict,” said Marceau Sivieude, Amnesty’s regional director for West and Central Africa.
Amnesty said its findings were presented to Malian authorities on Aug. 3 but by the time the report came out they hadn’t heard anything. Mali’s military government has previously denied killing civilians in operations against jihadist groups.
