Suspected Russian Forces Behind Mali Mass Killings, Group Says
- Mali army, foreign troops killed at least 300 civilians: HRW
- Attack is deadliest atrocity in Mali’s decade-long conflict
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Russian fighters operating alongside Malian soldiers allegedly killed at least 300 people during a counter-terrorism operation last month, in what a U.S.-based watchdog described as the single worst atrocity committed during Mali’s decade-long conflict.
Witnesses told Human Rights Watch that “White” fighters and Malian troops descended on the village of Moura, about 400 kilometers (249 miles) northeast of Bamako, Mali’s capital, on March 27. Over the next four days, the forces killed hundreds of people -- some of them Islamist fighters, but mostly civilians -- in what Mali’s government has described as an offensive against extremist groups that left 203 “terrorists” dead.