Soldiers acting on behalf of the Malian government reportedly killed more than 30 civilians in the crisis-ridden country, according to a UN report based on eyewitness accounts. A 78-page report by UN experts was presented to the UN Security Council, according to Friday, July 5, the dpa news agency, which had access to the document. In the report, the authors, according to witnesses, are described as “soldiers with white skin”.

The Russian private military company (PMC) Wagner, which is in the service of the Malian military junta, is not mentioned directly in the UN report, however, according to the dpa, experts have no doubt that the soldiers described by the witnesses are combatants of this military training. In particular, this is evidenced by the fact that ropes from Russian army stockpiles were used during the crime.

Terribly brutal murder

The UN report describes an incident that took place in early March in central Mali, on the border with Mauritania, when Malian forces attacked six settlements in the region in two days. On the morning of March 5, a “group of white-skinned soldiers” arrived at a village whose well was often used by herders from Mali and Mauritania. “Soldiers surrounded adult men, including older boys, tied their hands behind their backs and blindfolded them,” the UN report said, citing eyewitness accounts.

According to the report, soldiers broke into the village’s houses and looted them. They then proceeded to beat the men tied up with heavy sticks, while other soldiers blocked the doors of the houses where the women and children were, who “could only hear the screams of the men as they were beaten”. According to eyewitnesses, 33 or 34 men, including 29 Mauritanians and four Malians, were taken. A day later, their bodies were found four kilometers from the village. According to the report, they were shot and then burned.

Similar incidents occurred in other settlements in the region. In two of them, “white-skinned soldiers” arrived by helicopter. However, witnesses were unable to identify any of the perpetrators.

Mali safety vacuum

The unstable situation in Mali, where incidents have increased recently, including in the capital Bamako, has created a security vacuum in the country, according to a UN report, which makes serious human rights violations possible. There has been an alarming increase in the number of civilian deaths. In the period from January 1st to March 31st alone, 543 civilians were killed in Mali.

Since the May 2021 military coup in Mali, the highly volatile West African nation has been ruled by a military junta with close ties to Russia and seeking the services of Wagner PMC mercenaries. In UN circles, this formation is considered close to the Kremlin.

Growing tensions between Mali and its international partners and the activation of extremist groups in the country are increasingly preventing the deployment of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA). Currently, the German Bundeswehr employs over 1,000 of its soldiers there.