Russian mercenaries affiliated with the Wagner group have been accused of perpetrating cold-blooded killings and severe torture against civilians in Mali, as detailed in firsthand accounts from eyewitnesses who spoke to the BBC. These allegations highlight ongoing human rights abuses in the conflict-ridden nation, where the mercenaries were deployed to combat Islamist militants.
A shopkeeper from the central town of Nampala, identified as Ahmed for his safety, described how Wagner fighters detained him in August 2024, subjected him to waterboarding, and threatened to chop off his fingers and behead him unless he revealed information about his boss, whom they accused of colluding with jihadists. After days of torture, he witnessed the beheading of two other detainees—a Tuareg man and an Arab man—and was forced to smell their blood as a warning. Ahmed’s life was spared only after a Wagner commander verified his innocence with a Malian army officer, but the experience left him traumatized, leading him to flee with his family to a refugee camp in Mauritania.
Other refugees at the M’berra camp shared similar accounts of brutality. Youssouf, another eyewitness, recounted being beaten, threatened with drowning in a well, and tortured with metal rods and motorcycle exhaust until one of his friends died. These testimonies align with multiple reports collected by the BBC, indicating a pattern of abuse by Wagner operatives, who often acted with impunity and shared evidence of their atrocities, including murder and desecration of corpses, on private Telegram channels until the group was shut down earlier this year.
The Wagner group began operating in Mali after a military junta seized power in 2021, ousting French forces and pivoting towards Russia for support in counter-insurgency operations against groups like Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), an al-Qaeda affiliate. However, their methods have been widely condemned by human rights organizations for extreme brutality and extrajudicial killings, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in the region.
Human rights reports have documented these abuses in detail. A August 2025 report by The Sentry, a campaign group, noted that Wagner fighters not only carried out atrocities against civilians but also created “chaos and fear” within the Malian military hierarchy, silencing commanders. Similarly, the European Council on Foreign Relations highlighted in a recent study that mercenaries regularly shared photos and videos of murder, rape, and torture, underscoring the systemic nature of the violations.
In June 2025, Wagner announced its withdrawal from Mali, declaring its mission accomplished, and most of its fighters were absorbed into Africa Corps, which now operates under Russia’s defence ministry. Analysts from the Senegal-based Timbuktu Institute estimate that 70-80% of Africa Corps personnel are former Wagner members, raising concerns about the continuation of human rights abuses under the new guise.
Despite the transition, early trends from violence-monitoring group ACLED suggest that Africa Corps’ conduct has been “less predatory” than Wagner’s, with a noticeable decrease in deliberate civilian killings. Nonetheless, the conflict has forced nearly 50,000 people to flee to refugee camps like M’berra, where many, including women like Bintu who lost her husband to violence, grapple with deep trauma and uncertainty about their future.
The Malian and Russian defence ministries have not responded to requests for comment on these allegations, leaving victims without accountability. As calls for justice grow, the international community faces mounting pressure to investigate these crimes and support efforts to protect civilians in Mali’s protracted conflict, which continues to destabilize the Sahel region.
