The Malian army, along with allied militias, has been accused of killing at least 31 civilians and setting fire to homes during operations in two villages within the conflict-ridden Ségou region on October 2 and 13, according to Human Rights Watch.
In the first incident on October 2, Malian armed forces and Dozo militias—primarily composed of Bambara ethnic members involved in counter-insurgency for the past decade—reportedly killed a minimum of 21 men and burned down at least 10 houses in Kamona village. A second operation on October 13 in Balle, a village roughly 55 kilometers away, resulted in the deaths of nine men and one woman. Both locations are situated in a part of central Mali under the control of the al-Qaida-affiliated Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM, or JNIM). Witnesses reported that soldiers and Dozo militiamen summarily executed the villagers after accusing them of collaborating with GSIM.
“The October massacres in the Ségou region represent the latest atrocities attributed to the Malian army and its allied militias,” stated Ilaria Allegrozzi, a senior Sahel researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Malian authorities must conduct a credible and impartial investigation into these killings and bring those responsible to justice through fair trials.”
Human Rights Watch conducted telephonic interviews in October with 10 individuals knowledgeable about the events, including five witnesses and five community leaders, civil society activists, and journalists. On November 8, the organization sent its findings and a series of questions to Mali’s ministers of Justice and Defense but had not received a response by the time of publication.
Witnesses identified the soldiers by their camouflage uniforms and the Dozos by their traditional attire and the amulets they wore.
On October 2, at approximately 10 a.m., soldiers in at least seven pickup trucks and three armored vehicles, accompanied by Dozo militiamen on motorcycles, entered Kamona and began searching for the village men. According to witnesses, GSIM fighters had warned residents of the army’s approach, prompting many to flee.
“Those who couldn’t escape were rounded up and executed,” a survivor told Human Rights Watch. Witnesses confirmed that GSIM fighters had already vacated the village before the army’s arrival, and no confrontation occurred between the two groups.
Media reports corroborate the accounts, and witnesses believe the killings were retaliatory, linked to recent GSIM attacks in the Ségou region, including one that destroyed the Siribala sugar factory on August 8.
Villagers later discovered 17 bodies under a tree and four more to the north of Kamona. They also noted that soldiers had burned at least 10 huts and 3 sheds belonging to residents of Fulani ethnicity.
A 40-year-old herdsman who hid in an abandoned house with his 9-year-old daughter recounted finding the 17 bodies after the attackers left around 4 p.m. “The people had been riddled with bullets,” he said. “One had his head completely smashed. I also saw several bullet casings next to the bodies.”
Another man, aged 39, described helping to bury the dead. “We dug a mass grave under the tree and placed the 17 men in it,” he explained. “Further north, we found four more bodies. All had been shot in the stomach and head, so we dug another grave, placed them inside, and covered them with sand.”
The villagers provided a list of the 21 victims, all men between 20 and 65 years old, and suspect the death toll could be higher. “We heard that at least 15 other men were killed in the bush that day,” one villager said. “But we didn’t go to check, as we were afraid the army would return.”
On October 13, around 1 p.m., Malian soldiers in five pickups and Dozo militiamen on at least 30 motorcycles entered Balle, causing some inhabitants to flee. “I didn’t run right away, but when I saw the soldiers going door-to-door, slapping and kicking the men, I fled,” said a 24-year-old man. “From my hiding place, I heard gunshots.”
Witnesses stated that the soldiers and militiamen killed 10 civilians—a 55-year-old woman and nine men aged 22 to 67—and stole at least 100 cows.
A 33-year-old man found the 10 bodies in the middle of the village after the assault. “They were next to each other, riddled with bullets,” he said. “Some had broken legs and arms.”
The 21-year-old daughter of the woman who was killed said her mother had yelled at the soldiers, accusing them of mistreating the villagers. “She walked towards the soldiers,” the daughter recounted. “They then took her to where the men had been gathered and shot her.”
In a statement on October 14, Mali’s Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces announced that on October 13, soldiers had conducted an “offensive reconnaissance” operation around Balle that “resulted in the neutralization of about twenty terrorists” and the seizure of military equipment.
However, residents explained that Balle has been under GSIM control for years. “We pay the zakat [Islamic tax] every year,” one man said. “If there are disputes, the jihadists settle them. There are no soldiers, gendarmes, or police here. Therefore, the army assumes we are GSIM fighters. The army does not distinguish between them and us.”
Since 2012, successive Malian governments have been engaged in armed conflicts with various Islamist armed groups. The hostilities have resulted in thousands of civilian deaths and displaced over 402,000 people. Human Rights Watch has documented severe abuses by Malian armed forces and their allied militias and mercenary groups during counter-insurgency operations, as well as atrocities by GSIM and other armed factions.
The military attacks on civilians in the Ségou region followed GSIM’s siege of Bamako, the capital, in early September. The siege disrupted fuel supplies to the city and prompted the military junta to temporarily close all schools and universities nationwide.
All parties in Mali’s armed conflict are bound by international humanitarian law, including Common Article 3 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions and customary laws of war, which prohibit attacks on civilians, murder, and cruel treatment of anyone in custody. Committing serious violations with criminal intent can lead to prosecution for war crimes.
Although Mali withdrew from the International Criminal Court (ICC) in September, it remains a state party to the Rome Statute until September 2026. The court opened an investigation in January 2013 into alleged war crimes committed in Mali since 2012.
The African Union (AU) has been largely ineffective in its response to the escalating conflict in Mali, despite its mandate to promote peace and security, Human Rights Watch noted. As the security situation has worsened, the AU’s Peace and Security Council has done little beyond issuing statements of concern.
“The AU Peace and Security Council should make the conflict in Mali a priority,” concluded Ilaria Allegrozzi. “It should hold regular briefings, enhance diplomatic efforts, and coordinate regional and international actions to strengthen accountability for abuses by all parties.”