Forces from the Russia-controlled Africa Corps summarily executed nine civilians, including four children, and subjected dozens more to brutal beatings in central Mali during early July 2026. These fighters also plundered and torched at least eight homes, reportedly in pursuit of individuals suspected of affiliations with Islamist armed groups.
On July 10, approximately at 5 AM, more than 100 Africa Corps combatants, accompanied by several Malian soldiers, descended upon Bombori village in the Mopti region. Traveling in pick-up trucks and on motorcycles, they stormed residences in the Fulani quarter, forcibly dragging residents from their homes. At least 80 men and boys were then rounded up under a tree. There, the fighters subjected them to severe beatings, interrogated them about alleged connections to Islamist armed groups, and issued death threats if they withheld information. Six civilians attempting to escape were shot dead, while three others were apprehended and executed, one of whom was decapitated.
“The Malian junta appears to have granted Russia’s Africa Corps forces carte blanche to commit atrocities against civilians,” stated Ilaria Allegrozzi, a senior Sahel researcher. “Malian authorities cannot evade their legal responsibility by allowing Africa Corps to perpetrate such abuses. They must promptly and impartially investigate these violations and bring all those responsible to justice, including any Malian military personnel implicated.”
Between July 19 and 30, remote interviews were conducted with 13 individuals, comprising four direct witnesses to the attack and nine civil society members and community leaders.
Witnesses confirmed that Russian forces spearheaded the operation in Bombori, with four Malian soldiers primarily serving as interpreters. “The Russians were in charge… There were over 100 of them, all in military uniforms and heavily armed,” recounted a 39-year-old villager. “A white man with two walkie-talkies seemed to be the leader. Each time he asked a question, he fired into the air.”
Another witness, a 57-year-old butcher, described seeing “seven pick-up trucks mounted with machine guns, and over 60 motorcycles displaying Malian flags.”
The Al-Qaeda-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM or Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, JNIM) has maintained control over Bombori since 2017 and operates a base a kilometer away. Witnesses indicated that GSIM fighters had departed the village the day prior to the attack.
Since 2012, successive Malian governments have grappled with Islamist armed groups. Following the coups of 2020 and 2021, the military junta expelled French and UN forces, subsequently strengthening its ties with Russia. Since 2021, the junta has relied on assistance from the Russia-linked Wagner Group for security management. In June 2025, the Wagner Group announced its withdrawal from Mali, claiming its mission was “accomplished.” The group was subsequently replaced by Africa Corps, which operates under Kremlin control and comprises largely the same personnel, including many former Wagner combatants and some of its key leaders. This shift has been a significant development in Mali politics and Mali security.
Since 2021, Human Rights Watch has documented widespread abuses committed by the Malian army, the Wagner Group, and Africa Corps during counter-insurgency operations across the West Africa Mali nation.
Witnesses recounted that on July 10, Africa Corps forces fired upon civilians fleeing Bombori before detaining and assaulting men and boys. “I saw two men fall under a hail of bullets,” a 40-year-old man stated. “I looked to my left and saw two motorcycles with two white soldiers; the first one on a motorcycle continued to shoot at the two men on the ground.” He added that a Russian fighter then led him to a tree where dozens of men and boys were held at gunpoint. “The Russian fighters pointed their weapons at us, searched our pockets, confiscated all our phones, and photographed us,” he continued. “One Russian [fighter] kicked us, another struck us with his weapon, and I received several blows to my back and chest… while others continued to bring in men they had arrested in the village.”
The 39-year-old man explained that he had hidden in his home with his wife and children when three Russian fighters arrived, “took me by the hand and violently forced me out, face down,” before pushing him towards the assembly point. “We were all sitting on the ground, heads bowed,” he recounted. “A Russian fighter struck anyone who looked up with the butt of his rifle.”
The man described the Africa Corps combatants’ interrogation of the detainees: “A Malian soldier translated: ‘Where are the jihadists? Whoever points out a fighter goes home; whoever shows weapon caches will receive a reward. If you don’t cooperate, we will kill all of you!’”
Witnesses reported that Africa Corps forces removed three young men from the group of detainees and departed with them in a vehicle. “Around 9 AM, they took three young men… and drove them towards the GSIM base,” a 38-year-old man recalled. “Later, we found them dead.” Residents explained that the three men had occasionally assisted GSIM in collecting “taxes” (“zakat” in Arabic) but were not combatants.
Locals indicated that GSIM, which has committed widespread abuses across Mali since 2017, had controlled Bombori for nine years, collecting “taxes,” recruiting and training young men, and enforcing Sharia (Islamic law). They noted a significant increase in Islamist fighters in the village following coordinated attacks by GSIM and its allies across Mali in April and July. “Since the GSIM offensives, the security situation in our region has changed,” observed the butcher. “Many GSIM fighters, mostly foreigners, have joined those who were already here.”
However, witnesses stated that GSIM combatants were not present in Bombori on July 10. “GSIM fighters left during the night, while everyone was asleep,” the 39-year-old man recounted. “They do not protect us in case of an army attack.”
When Africa Corps departed Bombori around 2 PM, residents recovered the bodies of nine individuals, comprising five men aged 19 to 34 and four children aged 6 to 17.
The 40-year-old man described the bodies of the two men shot in front of him as having “large, bloody open wounds on their chests and backs.” Regarding the three men who were taken away, he stated that “one had been decapitated, his head displayed in the middle of the village… the other two had their throats slit and were tied, hands behind their backs.”
The 38-year-old man explained finding “the bodies of two children, both around 6 years old, shot dead next to a burned house,” and two other bodies “near the national road [with] bullet marks to the head and… lying face down next to each other.”
Bombori village is divided into a quarter inhabited by the Rimaïbé ethnic group and another by the Fulani. Africa Corps forces exclusively targeted the Fulani sector. “I remained seated at my brother’s forge and had no problems,” noted the butcher, a Rimaïbé. “The attackers did not enter our homes, nor search inside, and no one was arrested or killed among us.”
GSIM has long concentrated its recruitment efforts on the Fulani, and Malian governments have often conflated the Fulani community with Islamist fighters, leading to severe abuses against the Fulani people. This highlights a complex aspect of Mali news and its impact on communities.
Africa Corps forces also stole money and jewelry and set fire to at least eight homes belonging to Fulani families whose sons, according to witnesses, were GSIM fighters. “I saw smoke rising from the Fulani quarter towards the mosque,” the 57-year-old man indicated. “It was later that I saw they [the attackers] had burned eight huts and also destroyed five grain silos.”
On August 4 and 5, formal inquiries detailing these findings were sent to the Russian Defense Minister and to Assimi Goïta, Mali’s President and Defense Minister, respectively. No response has been received to date.
All parties involved in the armed conflict in Mali are bound by international humanitarian law, including common Article 3 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions and customary laws of war. Deliberate or indiscriminate attacks against civilians or civilian property are prohibited, as are murder, cruel treatment, and torture of any person in detention. Individuals who commit grave violations of the laws of war with criminal intent, or who are implicated under command responsibility, may face prosecution for war crimes. This incident underscores critical issues in Mali security and human rights.
“The Bombori massacre is emblematic of the atrocities occurring in Mali,” concluded Ilaria Allegrozzi. “Villagers are caught between an Islamist armed group and the government with its Russian allies, with neither belligerent respecting international law.”
