Members of the Russian private paramilitary group Wagner have been linked to massacres and murders of civilians in Mali and other African countries, while concerns are growing about the presence of Wagner's mercenaries and Moscow's influence in some African countries, world media write.
'Russian Instructors'
Russian mercenaries in Africa have been linked to massacres in which several hundred civilians were killed, raising new fears about the impact of Moscow's interventions on the stability and security of countries across the continent, the Guardian writes.
Western officials have so far largely avoided naming who carried out the killings, but witnesses, local community leaders, diplomats and local analysts blame many of the killings on fighters hired by the Wagner Group, a network of private companies believed to be led by Yevgeny Prigozhin. who is close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Incidents of civilian killings occurred this year in Mali, where Wagner came to an agreement with the new military authorities. The British newspaper said it had access to internal Malian army documents which show that members of the Wagner group - referred to as "Russian instructors" - were on "mixed missions" with Malian soldiers during operations in which many civilians were killed.
According to data collected by the non-governmental organization ACLED (Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project), 456 civilians were killed in nine incidents involving Malian forces and Wagner between January and mid-April of this year. The most serious incident occurred in March when the Wagner group was allegedly involved in a massacre in Mura, a village controlled by Islamist extremists, where between 350 and 380 men were killed within four days.
Wagner, who, according to the Guardian, was also linked to atrocities during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, was active in a dozen countries across Africa and was repeatedly accused of violating human rights in those countries. On May 3, Human Rights Watch said in a report that in the Central African Republic, forces identified as Russian appear to have killed and tortured civilians since 2019, which was also alleged by a United Nations panel of experts last year.
The researcher of Amnesty International in Mali, Usmane Diallo, said that Muri members of Wagner were conducting an operation of the Malian army when unarmed Islamic militants and civilians were killed. ACLED researcher Heni Nsaibia said he came to a similar conclusion while a West African diplomat in Mali said "investigations into the events in Mura confirmed that Wagner forces were cooperating with Malian forces".
Human Rights Watch assessed that the events in Moura were "the worst single crime reported in Mali's decade-long armed conflict." Mali's military said it had killed 203 militants during the operation in Moura and denied reports of executions. Russia vetoed an attempt at the United Nations (UN) to establish an independent investigation into the massacre, while Mali prevented the UN from sending a team to Mur.
'Fake Mass Grave'
The ruling junta in Mali withdrew from defense agreements with Paris and its European partners, after accusing the French army of threatening the country's sovereignty, writes Mond.
According to three agreements with Mali, the French army was engaged in that country to help fight jihadists, but French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed the withdrawal of the French army in February, after several months of escalation of tensions in relations with the ruling junta.
The junta that came to power after a double coup – in August 2020 and May 2021 – alleged that the French air force was violating Mali's airspace. She previously accused the French military of "espionage" and "subversion" on April 27 after the French military released drone videos it said showed Wagner mercenaries burying bodies to create a fake mass grave near the French base of Gosi, with aiming to accuse Paris.
The French military has rejected allegations that it violated Mali's sovereignty by citing a 2013 agreement from which Mali has now withdrawn.
The termination of defense agreements, according to Mond, is a cause for concern in Paris and raises questions about the junta's true intentions. "Is this a useless military gesture, another bluff or an action designed to provoke a security incident with our forces," the French source said.
Some in France believe that Russia is behind Mali's withdrawal from the agreement and that it is a response by Wagner's mercenaries to the episode of the fake mass grave in Gosi that was exposed by the French army, according to Mond, citing a French source who said that "it is part of Russia's strategy of disinformation and lies that have been spreading for months, in order to encourage anti-French sentiment in Mali together with the junta".
A war of words
The war of words over an alleged mass grave near a military base in Mali recently used by French forces comes as concerns grow in France and other European countries about the presence of Wagner's mercenaries in some African countries, the BBC said, adding that the Russian government denies any links to Wagner.
France, which has had thousands of troops in Mali since 2013, handed over the military base in Gosi to Malian authorities on April 19, and Malian soldiers entered it the same day. The French military said on the afternoon of April 20 that its aerial reconnaissance showed that a number of other soldiers, described as Europeans "suspected of belonging to the Wagner group", had arrived at the base and were unloading equipment with Malian soldiers.
That evening, according to the French, the Twitter account DiaDiarra6, who describes himself as a "retired soldier, Malian patriot and political analyst", posted a claim that corpses left behind by French forces had been found in Gosi, but without a video to illustrate it.
The French army said it sent a drone to check what was going on after the tweet. The next morning, April 21, the French military said it had taken aerial footage of a base where there was a group of white men near about ten bodies with some people throwing sand at them while others were filming it.
About two hours later, DiaDiarra6, which the French say is "most likely a fake account created by Wagner," tweeted a close-up of what appeared to be several corpses covered in sand or dirt, according to the BBC.
Mali claims that, after taking control of the base on April 19, he sent reinforcements on April 20, and that unknown assailants opened fire on that base. A reconnaissance patrol was sent out on the morning of April 21 to check the surrounding area and a mass grave was discovered that day, according to the junta. A spokesman for the Malian army said the advanced stage of decomposition of the bodies meant they had been dead for several days, ruling out the involvement of Malian forces.
The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on the incident, expressing support for Mali and accusing France of shifting the blame for the killings. The statement mentioned claims from social networks about bodies found in Gosi, as well as local media reports that linked the events to reports of a group of herders captured by French soldiers near Gosi.
The BBC indicates that the disputed Twitter account was created only in January of this year and that it published support for the Malian army and Russia, as well as posts against the presence of France. The profile picture, according to an investigation by the British public service, can be traced to an account on the Russian social network VKontakte of a person from Colombia. At the time of the publication of the post about the claims about the mass grave in Gosi, the profile picture was changed.
However, according to the BBC, questions are being raised as to why the first tweet alleging the French were responsible for the killings was sent on the evening of April 20, the night before the bodies were apparently actually buried near the base.
Human rights accusations are coming
On May 3, Human Rights Watch announced that there is "convincing evidence" that Russian paramilitary troops have seriously violated human rights and killed civilians in the Central African Republic (CAR), reported Agence France-Presse.
The civil war in the CAR that began in 2013 between numerous militias and the authorities has eased significantly in recent years, but about a year ago fighting resumed abruptly when the rebels launched an offensive to oust President Fosten Arkanje Tuadero.
After the president called on Moscow for help, hundreds of Russian paramilitary forces helped suppress the rebels who still rule parts of the country, AFP reported, adding that the paramilitary forces were described as members of the Wagner Group, a Russian entity with no known legal status.
"Forces in the CAR, identified by witnesses as Russian, appear to have summarily executed, tortured, and beaten civilians since 2019," Human Rights Watch said.
"Several Western governments, United Nations experts and special rapporteurs have found evidence that Russian-linked forces operating in the CAR include a significant number of members of the Wagner Group, a Russian private military firm that appears to be linked to the Russian government," added the NGO based in New York.
Human Rights Watch said that on July 21 last year, Russian-speaking men killed 12 unarmed people arrested at a checkpoint near Bosango, northwest of the capital Bangui.
The organization also made allegations of detentions, torture and summary killings of men who were randomly arrested on the street in the central city of Alindao in June last year.
Last month, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, condemned "serious human rights violations" in the Central African Republic, including killings and sexual violence against civilians, by rebel groups, as well as the military and their Russian allies.
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