DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Mali security forces, backed by foreign soldiers, reportedly killed at least 500 people over several days in a village last year, the United Nations said Friday, significantly raising the death toll. fatalities from what was already considered the worst atrocity in the country’s long struggle against extremist groups.
The new report from the UN Human Rights Office details the violence registered in the town of Moura, in the center of the African nation, for five days and raises the previous count of 300 deaths offered by Human Rights Watch.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk called the findings “extremely disturbing.”
“Summary executions, rape and torture during armed conflict amount to war crimes and could, depending on the circumstances, amount to crimes against humanity,” Turk added.
Malian authorities had said their operation in March last year neutralized extremists and prevented UN investigators from visiting the village. Investigators analyzed satellite images and spoke with victims and witnesses, the report explained.
France and other countries denounced that the Malian forces in Moura had the help of Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group. In the UN report, the researchers cite similar evidence of foreign involvement.
“Witnesses reported seeing ‘armed white men’ speaking an unknown language operating alongside Malian forces and sometimes appearing to supervise operations,” the UN office said. “According to witnesses, Malian troops entered and left Moura on a daily basis, but the foreigners stayed throughout the operation.”
Despite the help of the French army and a major UN peacekeeping mission for nine years, Mali has been unable to stamp out violence by Islamic extremist groups. In August 2020, an army colonel overthrew the democratically elected president, further destabilizing the West African country.