Amnesty International calls for war probe of reported killings of Mali soldiers

Amnesty International called on Wednesday for a war crimes investigation into what it described as summary killings of at least 19 Malian soldiers by members of armed groups after an ambush on July 18.



The attack occurred in northern Mali between the town of Anefis and the city of Gao, according to statements from Mali's armed forces, the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), and the al Qaeda-linked group Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM).



Amnesty said it analysed 12 videos of the incident which were shared on X accounts and on a Telegram channel associated with the Russian paramilitary Wagner.



"It is clear that the soldiers were hors de combat before being subjected to ill-treatment and killed in execution style," said Ousmane Diallo, Amnesty's senior researcher on the Sahel.



The U.N. human rights office has also called for an investigation into the incident, saying it could amount to a war crime.