According to a UN report, the Wagner group participated in the massacre of unarmed civilians in Mali

Gy. D.;

Mali;civilians;massacre;report;UN human rights office;Wagner group;

2023-05-20 20:39:00

According to the investigators of the UN human rights office, there are convincing signs that the Russian mercenary army has killed more than 500 people in collaboration with Malian soldiers. Most of them were unarmed civilians.

The Wagner group took part in the massacre of more than 500 unarmed civilians last March 2022, a UN report revealed The Guardian according to his Saturday article.

The five-day operation, carried out during the whirlwind of action against the Islamists, was carried out in the Moura settlement of the West African country’s Mopti region. According to the investigators of the UN human rights office, there are convincing signs that the Russian mercenary army, working side by side with Malian soldiers, killed more than 500 people (most of them in the context of extrajudicial executions). Most of the victims were unarmed civilians. Based on the internal correspondence it obtained, the paper already linked Wagner’s fighters to the massacres against Malian civilians last year.

In addition to Mali, the mercenaries of the Wagner group are present in at least six other African countries, including Libya and Syria. Members of the mercenary army are accused of having participated in several massacres against civilians in other places besides Mali in the Sahel region and in central Africa. According to eyewitnesses, their heads have also been raised in the fighting in the Central African Republic in recent months.

Western officials say the Kremlin is also using the Wagner Group to expand Russian economic and political interests across Africa and beyond, an operation it supports with a comprehensive disinformation campaign.