Mali airstrikes killed 8 civilians, HRW says

Human Rights Watch said Friday that Russian Africa Corps paramilitaries supporting Mali's government killed eight civilians, including three children, in airstrikes on Kyrnia village in the Mopti region on June 15.

The rights group said a Sukhoi Su-24 aircraft dropped at least two munitions. HRW said the first struck outside the village chief's residence, killing two of his children, his wife and another child, and injuring a woman. It said the second struck a small cattle market about 20 metres away, killing four men and injuring two others.

HRW said no fighters from armed jihadist groups were known to be among the casualties. Witnesses interviewed by the group said at least 100 fighters from the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims, known as JNIM, including a senior commander, were in the village at the time.

Africa Corps claimed responsibility for the attack on Facebook and described the target as a gathering place for terrorist groups. The post included footage of strikes on a village.

Ilaria Allegrozzi, HRW's senior Sahel researcher, said Mali's government was accountable for atrocities by allied forces. Mali has faced a security crisis since 2012, and its junta has moved closer to Russia after turning away from former colonial power France.