At least 50 civilians were killed and more than 500 were arrested during a military operation conducted by Mali’s army and “foreign troops” on April 19, the United Nations has said.
The alleged massacre took place on market day in Hombori municipality, in the central region of Douentza, after a Mali military convoy hit an improvised explosive device, the UN said in a report on Wednesday.
At least 50 civilians [including a woman and a child] were killed and more than 500 others arrested, the UN’s peacekeeping mission MINUSMA said in a quarterly report on human rights violations between April and June.
The report did not specify who the foreign fighters were. Mali’s military spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The UN has repeatedly accused Malian soldiers of summarily executing civilians and suspected fighters during the course of their decade-long fight against groups linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS).
The military has in some cases acknowledged that its forces were implicated in executions and other abuses, but few soldiers have faced criminal charges.Mali’s military government, which has been in power since 2020, has brought in Russian operatives it describes as military trainers.
Western countries describe them as mercenaries from the pro-Kremlin Wagner group.
The last French soldier in Mali under the long-running Barkhane mission left the country on August 15.
