Mali’s military and armed groups committing abuses against civilians: HRW
Soldiers, fighters and separatists in West African country committing grave laws-of-war violations, rights group finds.

Soldiers, fighters and separatists in West African country committing grave laws-of-war violations, rights group finds.




![Mali's leader Assimi Goita attends an Independence Day military parade in Bamako, Mali, on September 22, 2022 [AP Photo/File]](https://aljazeeranews-3fuh52rgrl.edgeone.app/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/AP23169375543892-1780760888.jpg?resize=770%2C513&quality=80)
![Mali’s Assimi Goita, Niger’s General Abdourahamane Tiani and Burkina Faso’s Captain Ibrahim Traore are united by a push for greater sovereignty and strategic autonomy [Mahamadou Hamidou/Reuters]](https://aljazeeranews-3fuh52rgrl.edgeone.app/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/2024-07-06T181508Z_1249496886_RC2PP8AXR1TZ_RTRMADP_3_WESTAFRICA-SECURITY-SAHEL-1720621774.jpg?resize=770%2C513&quality=80)
![A Malian soldier stands near a truck during a patrol following the attack on Mali's main military base Kati, outside the capital Bamako, in Kati, Mali, April 27, 2026 [Stringer/Reuters]](https://aljazeeranews-3fuh52rgrl.edgeone.app/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/2026-04-27T121509Z_1695817415_RC2MXKAWT8W6_RTRMADP_3_MALI-SECURITY-1787963389.jpg?resize=770%2C513&quality=80)
![Security cooperation in the Sahel has become increasingly fragmented as regional governments pursue different approaches to fighting armed groups [Philippe Desmazes/AFP]](https://aljazeeranews-3fuh52rgrl.edgeone.app/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/000_Par8191835.jpg?resize=770%2C513&quality=80)

Malian army says the soldiers were held prisoner by Tuareg and al-Qaeda-linked armed groups in the northern region.
Russian paramilitaries fight alongside Malian soldiers battling multiple armed groups linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL.
A separatist–al-Qaeda alliance has shifted the balance of power in northern Mali and complicated efforts to end the war.
A deadly attack near Anefis exposes the growing challenges facing Mali’s military leaders.
At least 50 Malian soldiers were killed after a joint Malian army and Russia’s Africa Corps convoy was ambushed.
Mali says counterattack under way as rebels claim they inflicted ‘human losses’ and ‘material damage’ on troops.
General Jean Elysee Dao says 60 others also wounded as army retakes key town after nearly a week of fighting.
Relations begin to thaw as both countries reinstate ambassadors, reopen airspace closed to each other since April 2025.

The Russian navy is carrying a shipment of weapons to help Mali’s government hold off a rebel advance.
Police arrest 10 suspects, seizing bladed weapons, military-style clothes and bomb‑making instructions.