Human Rights Watch has accused Mali’s armed forces and their Russian allies of carrying out scores of drone strikes that killed at least 94 civilians during a five-month counter-insurgency campaign, raising fresh questions about the protection of communities trapped between state forces and armed groups.
The rights organisation said data compiled by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project recorded 47 drone strikes by Malian forces and the Russian Africa Corps between April and August 2026. Those attacks killed 94 civilians, compared with 22 strikes and 44 civilian deaths during the same period in 2025.
The figures form part of a wider account of alleged violations committed during an offensive launched after coordinated insurgent attacks on 25 April. Those attacks killed Mali’s defence minister and struck several towns as well as the country’s main airport, according to the report.
Human Rights Watch said it investigated a series of incidents in which civilians were allegedly killed or injured. On 19 August, a drone strike on a cattle market in the Bandiagara area killed six men, the organisation said. A pre-dawn strike on 29 July hit a health centre in Kidal, while another incident on 12 July involved soldiers who allegedly killed five young girls in the Segou region after mistaking them for attackers.
The allegations have not been tested in court, and the Malian authorities did not respond to questions about the incidents. Human Rights Watch said a letter sent to the government on 5 August received no reply. The Russian embassy also did not respond to requests for comment. Mali’s military has previously denied killing civilians during its operations against insurgents.
The report adds to concern over the expanding use of air power in a conflict that has spread across much of Mali. Armed drones allow forces to attack distant targets without placing pilots directly over hostile territory, but errors in identification can be deadly in markets, villages and health facilities where civilians and combatants may be difficult to distinguish.
Africa Corps is controlled by Russia’s defence ministry and has operated alongside Mali’s military since replacing Wagner Group personnel. In an earlier investigation published in July, Human Rights Watch said an air strike on Kyrnia village on 15 June killed eight civilians, including three children. The organisation said witnesses believed a Sukhoi Su-24 aircraft was involved and that the strike hit the village chief’s home and a nearby market.
Mali has relied increasingly on Russian military support since relations with several Western partners deteriorated under the country’s military-led government. The security partnership has been presented by Bamako as part of a campaign to regain territory from armed groups linked to al-Qaeda and Islamic State, but rights monitors have repeatedly accused government forces and foreign partners of abuses against civilians.
Human Rights Watch also documented alleged crimes by insurgent groups during the current offensive. It said 19 soldiers were executed in the Gao region. Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, the al-Qaeda-linked coalition commonly known as JNIM, acknowledged that the killings occurred but denied ordering them. The Tuareg-led Azawad Liberation Front also denied responsibility for executing the soldiers.
The competing accounts underline the difficulty of establishing responsibility in areas where access for independent investigators is limited. They also show that civilians and captured fighters face risks from several sides of the conflict. International humanitarian law requires parties to distinguish between military targets and civilians and prohibits attacks expected to cause civilian harm that is excessive in relation to the anticipated military advantage.
Conflict-monitoring data cited in the earlier Human Rights Watch investigation attributed 918 civilian deaths over the preceding year to Mali’s military and Russian paramilitary forces, nearly four times the number attributed to their armed opponents. Such data may be revised as new information emerges, but the gap has intensified demands for transparent investigations into attacks that cause civilian casualties.
Human Rights Watch called on Mali to investigate alleged unlawful strikes and killings, hold those responsible to account and take stronger precautions before attacks. The organisation also urged all armed groups to end executions and other abuses. Without credible investigations and public findings, families in affected communities are left with little official explanation of how their relatives were killed or whether operational practices will change.
