<\/p>\n
HRW Senior Sahel Researcher Ilaria Allegrozzi said Malian forces and the Russian-controlled Africa Corps had killed and injured civilians during attacks and in custody.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The violence escalated after the Al-Qaeda-linked Jama\u2019at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin and other fighters launched coordinated attacks from late April.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Allegrozzi said counterinsurgency operations conducted in response had frequently killed civilians and destroyed civilian property. \u201cThese operations no longer appear to be directed only against armed groups but deliberately target civilian communities perceived as sympathisers or accused of providing support,\u201d Allegrozzi said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
HRW documented a military drone strike on a livestock market in central Mali that killed six men and injured more than 20 people.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Another incident involved five girls killed after soldiers allegedly mistook them for armed fighters in the S\u00e9gou region.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Drone strikes and associated civilian casualties more than doubled between April and August compared with the corresponding period in 2025, according to HRW.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Allegrozzi said armed groups had also committed serious violations, including the reported killing of at least 19 Malian soldiers by Jama\u2019at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin in July. \u201cThese incidents are extremely serious and must be the subject of thorough investigations,\u201d Allegrozzi said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Data compiled by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project indicated that Malian forces killed 268 civilians between April and August, while Jama\u2019at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin killed 134 civilians during the same period.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThe army in Mali is killing more civilians than Al-Qaeda,\u201d Allegrozzi said. \u201cWe have an army that is not accountable and soldiers who feel that they are above the law.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Allegrozzi said the violence reflected a longstanding pattern rather than isolated incidents. Impunity had encouraged further abuses because alleged violations rarely resulted in independent investigations or credible prosecutions.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
HRW criticised the international response and called for stronger action by the UN and African Union (AU). \u201cThe protection of civilians must be an absolute priority,\u201d Allegrozzi said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Allegrozzi urged the AU Peace and Security Council to hold a special session on civilian protection in Mali and establish regular monitoring of violations committed by all parties.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":38941,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-48576","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Malian forces and armed groups have committed serious violations against civilians since July as renewed fighting intensifies across the country, Human Rights Watch (HRW) says.","published_date":"","news_description":"Malian forces and armed groups have committed serious violations against civilians since July as renewed fighting intensifies across the country, Human Rights Watch (HRW) says.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/48576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/48576\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48578,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/48576\/revisions\/48578"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=48576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}