The Quai d'Orsay "seriously concerned".

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated on Monday, April 4, that possible "exactions" were committed in Mali by Malian soldiers "accompanied by mercenaries" from the private Russian group Wagner.

France is "concerned by reports of massive abuses in the village of Moura by elements of the Malian armed forces accompanied by Russian mercenaries from the Wagner group, which allegedly caused the death of hundreds of civilians", indicates the Quai d 'Orsay in a statement.

#Mali |

France is seriously concerned by reports of massive abuses in Moura by elements of the armed forces 🇲🇱 accompanied by mercenaries 🇷🇺 from the Wagner group, which allegedly caused the death of hundreds of civilians.



→ https://t.co/WmaDZG1lxV pic.twitter.com/X8yluZhACs

— France Diplomacy🇫🇷🇪🇺 (@francediplo) April 4, 2022

The rapid opening of national and international investigations

The Malian army said Friday evening in a press release that it had killed "203 combatants" of "armed terrorist groups" during an operation in a Sahelian zone in central Mali carried out from March 23 to 31.

This "large-scale" operation, which took place "in the Moura area 17 km northeast of Kouakjourou in the circle of Djenné", made it possible to kill "203 fighters" from "armed terrorist groups". , according to the Malian army.

AFP was not in a position to verify this assessment.

On Friday, the general staff invited "the populations to exercise restraint against defamatory speculation against" the Malian armed forces.

In its press release on Monday, France "calls for the rapid opening of national and international investigations to establish responsibility for these acts and bring their perpetrators to justice".

She "is concerned about the multiplication of abuses in central Mali since the beginning of 2022 and the impunity in which these take place".

"Human Rights Violations"

The press release finally stresses that "the fight against terrorist groups operating in the Sahel can in no way justify violations of human rights", which according to the ministry "only reinforce these groups".

In Brussels, the High Representative of the European Union Josep Borrell also considered "very worrying" the information on "the death of hundreds of people in the village of Moura".

"It is essential that the Minusma (UN Mission) can have access to the scene of the events in order to support the transitional authorities in their investigation," he added.

"The exemplary behavior of the State and its security forces, whose primary mandate is to protect civilian populations, cannot suffer from any exception".

Jihadist violence has killed dozens of civilians in recent weeks in central-eastern Mali and the so-called three-border region (between Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso), according to Minusma.

This vast area is the scene of violence and clashes between many of the armed organizations (regular and irregular) present on the ground, including between groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State organization.

With AFP

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