More than 500 killed in clashes in Mali - report

More than 500 killed in clashes in Mali – report

More than 500 civilians died in attacks carried out by armed forces and Islamist groups in Mali from January to March this year, the United Nations said in a report on Monday.

The report detailed a rapid unravelling of an already desperate security situation.

The killings represented a 324% rise over the previous quarter and highlighted the failure of Mali’s military junta to limit human rights abuses or stop groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State from carrying out campaigns of violence, Reuters agency reported.

MINUSMA documented 320 human rights violations by the Malian military in the January-March period, compared with 31 in the previous three months.

“Malian Armed Forces, supported on certain occasions by foreign military elements, increased military operations to combat terrorism … some of which sometimes ended in serious allegations of violations of human rights,” the U.N.’s Malian mission, known as MINUSMA, said in the report.

Western powers strongly opposed Wagner’s intervention, warning that it could stoke violence in Mali and neighbouring countries where communities face growing levels of drought, malnutrition and poverty.

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