Mali's armed forces and the Russian-controlled Africa Corps have killed and injured dozens of civilians since July while responding to escalating attacks by Islamist and separatist groups, Human Rights Watch said in a report published by AllAfrica.
The group documented two apparently indiscriminate military drone strikes: one on 29 July that partly destroyed a health centre in Talahandak in the Kidal region, and one on 19 August at a market in Tombonkore, in Bandiagara, which killed six civilians and injured at least 20. It also said soldiers shot dead five girls in the Ségou region on 12 July.
HRW said fighters from the al-Qaeda-linked JNIM and separatist groups had also committed abuses, including torturing and executing captured soldiers. It urged the African Union's Peace and Security Council to act. Mali's defence minister did not respond to its findings.
Source: AllAfrica
