Russia's Africa Corps kills Mali civilians in 'indiscriminate' attack, rights group says
Human Rights Watch said the strike appears indiscriminate after finding no evidence that the aircraft hit a specific military target.
- On Friday, Human Rights Watch reported that Russian government-controlled Africa Corps aircraft killed eight civilians, including three children, during a June 15 airstrike on Kyrnia village in central Mali.
- The Africa Corps, a Russian paramilitary unit operating under Moscow's direct control, assists Mali's military junta against insurgents; the group claimed its June 15 operation targeted a 'gathering place of terrorist groups' in the Mopti region.
- Human Rights Watch analysis of satellite imagery and witness interviews indicates two munitions struck Kyrnia, killing eight civilians including three children ages 1 to 10, a 24-year-old woman, and four men.
- Senior Sahel researcher Ilaria Allegrozzi at Human Rights Watch urged Mali's government to investigate, stating, 'The Malian government cannot hide behind laws-of-war violations committed by their Russian allies,' warning of complicity in war crimes.
- Violence has escalated in recent months as JNIM, which has controlled Kyrnia for six years, launched coordinated attacks; monitoring groups found Mali's military and Russian paramilitary fighters killed 918 civilians last year, nearly four times the toll from insurgents.
12 Articles
12 Articles
Russia's Africa Corps kills Mali civilians in 'indiscriminate' attack, rights group says
Russian paramilitary group Africa Corps killed eight civilians, including three children, in Mali last month, Human Rights Watch said on Friday, during air strikes the campaign group called "unlawfully indiscriminate".
The Toronto Star
Rights group says Russia-linked airstrike in Mali killed 8 civilians last month
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Human Rights Watch said Friday that Russian government-controlled Africa Corps aircraft killed eight civilians, including three children, in an airstrike on a village in central Mali last month.
A plane identified by two Malian military sources as a Su-24 dropped at least two bombs on the village of Kyrnia in the central Mopti region, an HRW investigation has found. One of the bombs exploded near the village chief's house, killing the man's wife and three children. The second bomb struck a nearby cattle market, killing four men. No fighters from the al-Qaeda-linked Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) group are believed to have b…
“Mali: Airstrikes carried out by Russia-backed Africa Corps kill civilians”: this is the title of the investigation published on Friday, July 31, 2026, by Human Rights Watch, which focused on bombings carried out by the Malian army’s Russian partners on June 15, 2026, on the village of Kirnya, in the Mopti region. The human rights organization reveals that jihadists from JNIM, linked to al-Qaeda, were indeed present in Kirnya that day, but that …
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