While a diplomat in New York spoke of the involvement of mercenaries from the Russian paramilitary group Wagner in this massacre on March 5, Mali refutes the presence of these mercenaries and evokes the presence of “instructors”.
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The UN accuses. L‘army Malian and “white soldiers” are involved in the death in early March in Mali, near the border with Mauritania, of 33 civilians, including 29 Mauritanians and 4 Malians, saccording to a report by experts commissioned by the United Nations consulted Friday, August 5 by AFP. A diplomat in New York quoted by AFP affirms that these “white soldiers” are elements of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner.
>> What are the Russian Wagner mercenaries doing in Mali?
The report of the UN group of experts on Mali, sent to the United Nations Security Council at the end of July, paints a macabre account of this massacre. On March 6, the bodies of these civilians were found tied up, beaten and burned. The day before, they would have been arrested and taken away by the Fama (Malian Armed Forces) and Russian mercenaries, according to the UN report, which refers to a “similar pattern of looting and beating” in five other localities in the area between March 5 and 6, with no fatalities, however.
The disappearance of these civilians in Robinet El Ataye, in the region of Ségou, caused a stir in Mali and Mauritania. Nouakchott accused the Malian army of“recurring criminal acts” against Mauritanian citizens in this border region, while Bamako assured that no element could question his army. The two countries opened a joint investigation, the results of which were still not published in early August.
If the “white soldiers” accused are suspected of belonging to the Wagner group, Mali refutes the presence of these mercenaries in the region. The country evokes the presence of“instructors”while Moscow claims to have nothing to do with this company present in Mali on a “commercial basis”.