An extremist group with ties to al-Qaida carried out mass killings in two villages in central Mali in January, according to a report by Human Rights Watch released on Wednesday.
The attacks, which the report describes as an apparent war crime, led to the deaths of at least 32 people, including three children.
The group, known as JNIM, attacked the villages of Ogota and Ouémbé on January 27, also setting fire to over 350 homes. Witnesses from the villages described the attacks as ethnically motivated, resulting in thousands fleeing their homes.
Additionally, the report documented another incident on January 6, in which an ethnic armed group killed 13 people and abducted 24 civilians in two other villages in central Mali.
“Islamist armed groups and ethnic militias are brutally attacking civilians without fear of prosecution,” said Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior Sahel researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The authorities need to act to end the deadly cycles of violence and revenge killings and better protect threatened civilians.”
Human Rights Watch stated that the assaults are part of a pattern of revenge killings in central Mali, where both extremists and ethnic armed factions are active. Certain ethnic communities such as the Fulani have been singled out by Dogon and Bambara militias, who allege their support for extremist organizations like JNIM.
Survivors of the assaults informed Human Rights Watch that they were singled out due to their ethnicity and urged the government to increase efforts to safeguard them.
Mali, alongside neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger, has grappled with an uprising by armed factions, including some aligned with al-Qaida and the Islamic State group. After military coups in all three countries in recent years, the ruling juntas have expelled French troops and sought assistance from Russia’s private military contractors for security support.
In December 2023, the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali withdrew from the country at the behest of the junta.
“We have continuously asked for a military presence but the government says that the army does not have the manpower to ensure one,” a resident of Segue, a village in central Mali, told The Associated Press. He did not want to be named out of fear of reprisal from local armed groups.
Malian authorities declined to comment.