Malian army execute at least eight people in border region

Mali’s military is facing increased scrutiny over allegations that at least eight people were executed near the Mauritania and Senegal borders, according to RFI and agencies on March 18th.

The executions reportedly occurred following mass arrests in the Yélimané district of the western Kayes region on March 13th; eight bodies were discovered between March 15th and 16th.

Reportedly, the bodies were found charred, abandoned in the bush and had their eyes blindfolded; some victims were members of the same family.

Local sources indicate that 34 members of the Fulani community, which has faced persecution throughout the Sahel over suspected Islamist ties, were arrested by the Malian Armed Forces (FAMA).

FAMA and Russian auxiliaries were accused of killing seven civilians near the Mauritanian border on March 6th; six victims were shot dead, while a seventh had their throat slit.

According to the CD-DPA, the victims were Fulani refugees from Mali who had been travelling from Fassala when a patrol of Malian and Russian forces stopped them.

The CD-DPA has previously accused FAMA and Russian mercenaries of perpetrating human rights abuses against civilians, including sexual violence and murder.

On February 26th, FAMA allegedly killed seven civilians near the Mauritanian and Senegalese borders after arresting five dual Malian-Mauritanian nationals in Aïté, along with two traders near a mining site.

It is unclear why the victims were arrested; however, Islamist groups like al-Qaeda linked Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JMIN) are active in the border regions.

JNIM are behind the ongoing fuel blockade that Mali has experienced since September 2025, where militants exploited Mali’s landlocked status and reliance on fuel imports to block supply routes and destabilise the military junta government.

On January 29th, 15 people died when jihadists ambushed a fuel tanker convoy in Kayes, on a road leading to the Senegalese border; at least three soldiers died, while several other soldiers who were escorting the convoy were missing.

Mali’s internal strife is not limited to jihadist insurgencies, as Tuareg separatists have waged war against the government since their latest rebellion in 2012.

Rebels from the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) claimed responsibility for a February 18th drone strike against a FAMA and Russian Africa Corps convoy in the northern Kidal region, a Tuareg stronghold.

Similarly, FLA rebels claimed responsibility for a March 4th attack against a FAMA and Russian Africa Corps convoy in the Adgar-Takalot area, south of Kidal.

RFI and agencies, Maghrebi.org