In Mali, 25 people were executed by the Malian army and its auxiliaries from the Wagner group. It was January 26, in the village of Welingara, also called Wuro Ferro in the Fulani language. A village in the Nara circle, near the Mauritanian border, an area where the Malian army has suffered several jihadist attacks in recent weeks.
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Malian soldiers and their Russian proxies from Wagner arrived very early in the morning, arrested 25 men and young boys, and took them 2 kilometers from the village. This is where, according to numerous local sources contacted by RFI, the bodies were found. Piled on top of each other, some blindfolded, riddled with bullets or slit throats, and many burned.
The victims, including children, are all Fulani. Several community sources continue to denounce a “ ethnic targeting “.
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In addition to these summary executions, local sources report around twenty people arrested – some use the term “ roundup » – during the month of December. Their relatives still do not know where and in what conditions the arrested people are.
After the attacks on the Mourdiah camp
The Malian army has not communicated about this operation and has not responded to requests from RFI.
Does this descent of the Malian army and its Wagner auxiliaries follow the successive attacks suffered by the Mourdiah military camp, in the same circle? Carried out on November 30 and December 25 by the jihadists of Jnim (Support Group for Islam and Muslims) linked to al-Qaeda, these attacks saw Malian soldiers fall on the battlefield, but there are no reliable reports. could be cross-checked.
About a month ago, a patrol also suffered an IED attack in the area.
Protection or retaliation?
The residents contacted by RFI denounce military operations and summary executions perceived not as operations to protect the population, but as acts of reprisals, notably involving unarmed civilians.
At the end of January, much further north, decapitated and partly dismembered bodies were found in a camp near Tessalit, in the Kidal region. According to several local sources, including some close to the CSP rebels, the three bodies found are those of artisanal gold miners. The interviewed sources blame Russian mercenaries from the Wagner group. No official communication has been sent by the army on this subject.
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