Russian mercenary group Wagner is aiding government forces in central and northern Mali in carrying out raids and drone strikes that have killed scores of civilians, including many children. Mali, along with its neighbors Burkina Faso and Niger, has been fighting an insurgency fought by jihadi groups, including some allied with al-Qaida and the Islamic State group. Following military coups in all three nations in recent years, the ruling juntas have expelled French forces and turned to Russia's mercenary units for security assistance instead.
Violence has escalated in Mali since Russian mercenaries arrived there following a coup in 2021. The ruling junta has ramped up operations, carrying out deadly drone strikes that have hit gatherings of civilians and raids accompanied by Russian mercenaries that have killed civilians. Human Rights Watch, a senior Sahel researcher, claims that Russia's presence in Mali has not changed since Wagner's leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, died in a suspicious plane crash last year.
Human Rights Watch has documented how drone strikes have killed civilians, with one example of a drone strike in central Mali's Segou region killing at least seven people at a wedding and a second drone strike targeting a funeral held for those killed in the previous day's strike. The juntas ruling Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso announced a joint security force to fight the worsening extremist violence in their Sahel region earlier this month.
