Soldiers acting on behalf of the Mali government allegedly killed more than 30 people in the crisis-ridden country, according to a UN report based on eyewitness accounts civilians. A 78-page report by UN experts has been presented to the Security Council of this organization, according to Friday, July 5, the dpa news agency, which received access to the document. In the report, the perpetrators are described by witnesses as “white-skinned soldiers.”
Russian private military company (PMC) Wagner, in the service of Malian military junta, is not directly mentioned in the UN report, however, according to dpa, experts have no doubt that the soldiers described by witnesses are fighters of this military formation. In particular, this is evidenced by the fact that ropes from the stocks of the Russian army were used during the crime.
Horrifyingly brutal murder
The UN report describes an incident that took place in early March in central Mali on the border with Mauritania, when Malian forces attacked six settlements in the region in two days. On the morning of March 5, a “group of white-skinned soldiers” arrived in a village whose well was often used by Malian and Mauritanian pastoralists. “The soldiers rounded up adult men, including older boys, tied their hands behind their backs and blindfolded them,” the UN report said, citing eyewitness accounts.
According to the report, the soldiers raided the houses in the village and ransacked them. They then proceeded to beat the bound men with heavy sticks, while other soldiers blocked the doors of the houses where the women and children were, who “could only hear the screams of the men as they were being beaten”. According to eyewitnesses, 33 or 34 men, including 29 Mauritanians and four Malians, were taken away. A day later, their bodies were found four kilometers from the village. According to the report, they were shot and then burned.
Similar incidents took place in other settlements of the region. In two of them, “white-skinned soldiers” arrived by helicopter. However, witnesses were unable to identify any of the perpetrators.
Security vacuum in Mali
According to a UN report, due to unstable situation in Mali, where incidents have recently increased even in the capital Bamako, a security vacuum has been created in the country, allowing serious human rights violations to occur. There has been an alarming rise in the number of civilian deaths. Only in the period from January 1 to March 31, 543 civilians were killed in Mali.
Since the military coup in Mali in May 2021, the highly unstable West African country has been ruled by a military junta with close ties to Russia and seeking the services of mercenaries from PMC Wagner. In UN circles, this formation is considered close to the Kremlin.
Growing tensions between Mali and its international partners and the activation of extremist groups in the country are increasingly preventing the deployment of the UN peacekeeping multidimensional integrated stabilization mission in Mali (MINUSMA). Currently German Bundeswehr employs more than 1,000 of its soldiers.
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Libya: civil war and geopolitical conflict
Ten-year war “all against all”
In North African Libya, a civil war has been going on for almost a decade. A variety of forces are involved in it: nationalist militants, Islamists, Tuareg nomads, local tribes, foreign mercenaries. The situation becomes even more confusing from the fact that the two main warring factions receive the support of various countries. This makes the conflict international and geopolitical.
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Libya: civil war and geopolitical conflict
It all started with the overthrow of Gaddafi
The armed struggle for power in Libya has not stopped since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 during the uprising that broke out as part of the “Arab spring” and supported by an international military operation. In this picture, the murderous dictator who has ruled for four decades is tearing up the UN Charter during his infamous 2009 speech at the organization’s General Assembly.
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Libya: civil war and geopolitical conflict
Oil and gas in the desert and at sea
One of the main causes of the civil war is the rich reserves of oil and gas. Concessions for their production on land and at sea were received by various foreign companies, including the German Wintershall (one of its facilities in the photo) and the Russian concern Gazprom, which have had a joint venture in Libya since 2008. Now the industry is in decline, for example, the Greenstream underwater gas pipeline to Italy is not working.
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Libya: civil war and geopolitical conflict
Key figure: Khalifa Haftar
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Libya: civil war and geopolitical conflict
They control almost the whole country
The militants of the “Libyan National Army” have reason to be photographed in the pose of the winners. Haftar’s troops have conquered the vast majority of the country’s territory, except for the desert south, which is controlled by local tribes, and several areas in the very west around Tripoli. However, despite repeated attempts to storm since April 2019, they have not yet succeeded in capturing the official capital of the country.
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Libya: civil war and geopolitical conflict
Russian ally and CIA agent
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Libya: civil war and geopolitical conflict
Saraca is supported by the UN and Turkey
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Libya: civil war and geopolitical conflict
Defense of Tripoli with Turkish help
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Libya: civil war and geopolitical conflict
The defeat of the local ISIS
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Libya: civil war and geopolitical conflict
Summit in Berlin: search for a solution
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Libya: civil war and geopolitical conflict
The European Union is concerned about the flow of refugees
The EU does not have a single position on Libya, the goals of individual countries diverge sharply. However, all EU members are interested in that it ceases to be a springboard for sending illegal migrants to Europe, many of whom die in the Mediterranean Sea. This migration and humanitarian problem cannot be solved without ending the war in Libya and restoring its statehood.
Author: Andrey Gurkov
