Mali war crimes findings: the price civilians pay when accountability stalls
The consequences of more than a decade of conflict in Mali are no longer measured only in battles won or lost. They are counted in grieving families, shuttered classrooms and communities living under the shadow of armed groups and military operations alike. A new investigation by Amnesty International, made public on 28 September 2026, paints a stark picture of what that reality means for ordinary people caught between the two.
The report accuses members of the Malian Armed Forces (FAMa), operating alongside foreign fighters from the Wagner group, of committing war crimes against civilians between 2023 and 2025. Its title, “No one is spared,” captures the core finding: in a conflict with multiple armed actors, civilians have nowhere safe to turn.
What the evidence shows
Researchers gathered testimony from 119 people originally from the Ségou, Mopti and Tombouctou regions, conducting part of the work with Malian refugees in Mauritania. Those accounts were cross-checked against additional sources and analysis of information related to military operations, according to the organisation.
The conclusions are severe. At least 34 civilians were killed in seven Malian localities between June 2023 and December 2025 during operations attributed to Malian forces and their Wagner allies. The report also documents torture, forced disappearance, looting and the destruction of civilian property.
Civilians trapped in the line of fire
The documented incidents are concentrated in Mali’s central and northern regions, particularly Ségou, Mopti and Tombouctou — areas long battered by insecurity and armed group activity.
Some victims were killed as they tried to flee or after being detained, according to the findings. Others were reportedly beheaded or burned. In Tin Adanda, in the Tombouctou region, four people were killed during a joint patrol in February 2025.
One of the report’s most troubling concerns involves pastoral communities, especially Peul, Arab and Tuareg populations. Many of those killed belonged to these groups, accused or suspected of ties to armed groups simply because of their ethnicity or their presence in areas controlled or frequented by insurgents.
The organisation warns that conflating an entire community with armed groups risks exposing civilians to collective reprisals — a dynamic that has already driven displacement and deepened mistrust across the region.
Drone strikes under scrutiny
The report also examines two drone strikes carried out by Malian forces in the Tombouctou region in 2025, which reportedly killed at least 23 people, including at least five children.
One of the most thoroughly documented cases concerns the Ejdeir market, struck on 16 March 2025. According to the findings, 16 people were killed and seven others wounded. The organisation says it found no evidence establishing the presence of fighters or military objectives at the market at the time of the strike.
Malian authorities had stated they targeted “meetings of terrorists.” The report notes that the geographic information provided by the authorities corresponds to the location struck at Ejdeir. In the absence of a verified military target, such an attack could amount to a direct attack on civilians and should be investigated as a possible war crime, the organisation argues.
The issue is especially sensitive in a conflict where Malian authorities present military operations as essential to fighting jihadist groups and other armed organisations. The report does not challenge, in principle, the right of authorities to combat armed groups. It stresses, however, the obligation to respect international humanitarian law and protect civilian populations.
Torture allegations inside military bases
Another grave section of the report addresses accusations of torture and ill-treatment of detainees.
Investigators say they interviewed 15 men who described being tortured during joint patrols or inside military bases, notably in Léré and Nampala. Their accounts were corroborated by witnesses who said they had observed torture involving around 30 people, according to the organisation.
The methods described are brutal: detainees suspended by their arms, simulated drowning, beatings with metal bars or sticks, and electric shocks. Five people reportedly died in military bases as a result of torture or poor detention conditions.
The report states that the acts were mainly carried out by Wagner members, sometimes in the presence of Malian soldiers. Some detainees were held for days or even months without being brought before a court, without access to legal assistance, and without being able to contact their families.
Wagner’s departure, Africa Corps’ arrival
The findings emerge as the Russian presence in Mali has shifted. Wagner, present in the country since late 2021, was replaced in June 2025 by Africa Corps, a structure under the control of the Russian Ministry of Defence.
The organisation is calling on Malian authorities to publicly clarify their relationship with Africa Corps and the oversight mechanisms applicable to its members. For the organisation, a change in structure must not translate into an absence of accountability when violations of international law occur.
This shift comes amid a profound transformation of Mali’s security policy. Since the 2020 coup, authorities have gradually strengthened military cooperation with Russia while reducing dependence on Western partners — a realignment with direct consequences for how operations are conducted and how allegations are handled.
A crisis that goes beyond government forces
The report stresses that the documented abuses cannot be attributed to a single side. In recent years, armed groups active in Mali have also been accused of serious violations of international humanitarian law.
Armed groups have committed unlawful killings, abductions and other abuses against civilian populations, the organisation recalls. That precision matters in a complex conflict with multiple armed actors, where civilians are often caught between different forces.
The humanitarian situation remains deeply concerning. More than 2,036 schools were closed because of insecurity, depriving hundreds of thousands of children of access to education — a long-term cost that will shape Mali’s future even after the fighting subsides.
The question of impunity
Beyond the accusations themselves, the report raises a central question: that of justice.
The organisation says it transmitted its conclusions to Malian authorities on 3 August 2026 and had received no response at the time of publication. It calls on Bamako to open “effective and impartial” investigations into the alleged crimes and to prosecute those responsible, where evidence warrants, before courts that respect fair-trial guarantees.
The judicial question takes on an additional dimension following Mali’s announced decision in June 2026 to withdraw from the Rome Statute, the founding treaty of the International Criminal Court. According to the organisation, that withdrawal does not end proceedings already covered by the ICC’s jurisdiction: the court would retain competence over crimes within its mandate committed during the legally applicable period.
In this context, the report appears less as a simple inventory of abuses than as a warning about the risk of entrenched impunity — and what that means for the credibility of institutions responsible for delivering justice.
What is at stake for ordinary Malians
For civilians in Ségou, Mopti and Tombouctou, the challenge remains immediate: surviving a conflict in which the line between combatants and civilians is often fragile.
Behind the statistics — 34 documented deaths, dozens of detainees tortured, and dozens of other presumed victims — lies a reality harder to quantify: displaced families, villages emptied of their inhabitants, and a population living between the threat of armed groups and the operations of security forces.
The report recalls a fundamental requirement of international law: fighting armed groups does not exempt any party to the conflict from protecting civilians. In Mali, the battle against insecurity is therefore also being fought on another terrain — that of justice, accountability and the protection of populations. How authorities respond will determine not only the country’s international standing but the daily security of millions.
