Mali: Human Rights Watch report accuses JNIM, army and rebels of civilian abuses
On Monday, June 29, 2026, Human Rights Watch released a report accusing JNIM jihadists, Tuareg rebels from the FLA, Mali’s army, and Russia’s Africa Corps of committing serious abuses against civilians since the coordinated attacks in April.
The report details that all parties have carried out illegal attacks on civilians, destroying and looting homes and businesses. The fighting, triggered by the joint JNIM and FLA offensive against junta positions on April 25 and 26, left at least 13 civilians dead and 25 wounded in Gao and Kidal, according to HRW.
A 38-year-old resident of Kidal recounted being wounded during the clashes. “I was hit by bullets in my right shoulder and left thigh,” he said, unable to identify the source of fire. “Shots were coming from all directions.”
Executions, strikes and destruction condemned
HRW also accuses JNIM of burning over 40 civilian vehicles between May 6 and 21 on roads leading to Bamako, and of “publicly executing a man” in the town of Tonka. “We recovered his body … with a bullet in the head,” a resident told the organisation.
The report further blames the Malian army for killing 38 civilians, including 23 children, during operations against Peul communities in central Mali. Two suspected drone strikes in Guimbé and Tené are also mentioned. “I heard a noise from the sky then an explosion,” a Tené resident recounted. “We saw that the damage was enormous, with dead and wounded.”
To establish these facts, HRW conducted 34 remote interviews and analysed satellite images, videos and photographs. The organisation says it contacted the Malian authorities without response. JNIM stated that “there can be no war without human costs,” while the FLA claimed it had “taken sufficient measures so that civilians are not collateral victims of the fighting.”
