Mali: Army accused of killings and destruction in Timbuktu area
The Malian Armed Forces (FAMA) are under scrutiny once again amid reports of execution and destruction following military operations in the Timbuktu region, according to RFI and agencies on April 3rd.
Between March 30th and April 3rd, FAMA and the Russian Africa Corps conducted counter-terrorism operations in the Goundam, Bintagoungou, and Gargando districts of the northern Timbuktu region.
Following the operations, the CD-DPA, along with other local sources, reported summary executions and destruction of communities, which they attributed to Malian and Russian forces.
Local sources stated that two people were killed in the Bintagoungou district’s Bakkada on April 1st; on the same day, a civilian was beaten in the Goundam district’s Essakane.
The same sources reported that on April 2nd, an unarmed man was summarily executed in Tingarganayssa, near Aratane; another man was killed at a camp in the Gargando commune’s Aragoungou, where tents were looted and ransacked.
Furthermore, the Razelma market was completely destroyed, with footage showing the facilities engulfed in flames.
On April 3rd, FAMA issued a statement that said air strikes were conducted against a “terrorist training camp” near Markala on April 1st and against “a column of terrorist vehicles and motorcyclists” near Kidal on April 2nd.
CD-DPA have previously accused FAMA of killing civilians in the Timbuktu region, although FAMA claims its operations target terrorists.
Russia’s Wagner Group and the Russian Africa Corps have also been accused of perpetrating human rights violations alongside FAMA.
Northern Mali faces threats from Islamist militants and Tuareg separatists, with the latter waging war against the government since the latest uprising began in 2012.
Tuareg separatists and jihadists have launched attacks against Malian and Russian forces in northern Mali, with the Kidal region being an epicentre of violence between FAMA, Russian auxiliaries, Tuareg rebels and Islamist militants.
Militants from the al-Qaeda affiliated JNIM are particularly active in the Timbuktu region; on March 27th, jihadist gunmen on motorcycles assassinated a youth leader in Tonka.
On April 3rd, JNIM claimed responsibility for an attack against a FAMA and Russian Africa Corps patrol in Gargando, which was committed using an improvised explosive device.
JNIM is behind the fuel blockade Mali has experienced since September 2025; jihadists exploited Mali’s landlocked status and reliance on fuel imports to block supply routes.
Islamists envision the blockade will destabilise the junta government and lead to the establishment of an Islamic Republic.
RFI and agencies, Maghrebi.org
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