The violence in Mali has entered a new and alarming phase. On April 25th, the Al-Qaeda-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims, known by its French acronym JNIM, launched coordinated attacks across the country, including an assault on a military airbase near Bamako’s international airport and an attempted advance on the presidential palace. In the northern city of Kati, a car bombing killed the defence minister, General Sadio Camara. Three days later, JNIM declared a total siege of the capital and threatened to kill civilians who obstructed its operations.

The offensive brought together JNIM and the Azawad Liberation Front, a Tuareg separatist coalition seeking to overthrow the military junta led by General Assimi Goïta and backed by Russian fighters from Africa Corps, formerly the Wagner Group. Their alliance, forged in 2024 despite ideological differences, has proved formidable. Russian forces subsequently withdrew from the northern city of Kidal after reaching a deal with the insurgents, leaving approximately 200 Malian soldiers behind as prisoners. JNIM and its allies went on to seize Tessalit and Tessit.

The abuses committed by all sides have been grave. Human Rights Watch, which interviewed 34 people between April 26th and June 9th, documented attacks on civilian vehicles, summary executions and apparent military drone strikes on wedding gatherings and riverside settlements. Between May 6th and 21st, JNIM fighters burned more than 40 civilian vehicles approaching Bamako, ordering passengers out at gunpoint and setting the buses alight. On May 21st, JNIM fighters publicly executed Abdoul Salam Maïga, a Quranic teacher, in the central square of Tonka, in the Timbuktu region, reportedly because he had spoken out against the group’s practices.

The Malian armed forces have responded with what appear to be collective reprisals against Fulani communities. On May 14th, soldiers and Dozo militiamen entered Sarkala Werè village in the Ségou region, firing on civilians attempting to flee. At least 31 Fulani civilians were killed, among them 23 children, 13 of them under the age of ten. Witnesses described soldiers positioning themselves at the edge of a nearby forest where Fulani residents habitually sought refuge during military operations. Three days later, an apparent military drone strike killed ten civilians gathered for a wedding in the village of Tené. An earlier strike on April 25th, near the Bani riverbank in Guimbé village, killed at least 12 children and teenagers.

Mali’s withdrawal from the Economic Community of West African States in January 2025 and its announced exit from the International Criminal Court in September 2025 have significantly narrowed the avenues for accountability. The military junta has not responded to Human Rights Watch’s inquiry to the justice minister. JNIM, in a June 15th reply, described civilian deaths as an unavoidable cost of war and invoked Sharia principles to justify its enforcement of the Bamako siege.

Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior Sahel researcher at Human Rights Watch, warned that the patterns being documented now are deeply familiar. “All parties are obligated to respect international humanitarian law, take all feasible steps to avoid civilian harm, and facilitate access to humanitarian aid,” she said. The United Nations and the African Union, the organisation argued, should support a fact-finding mission capable of laying the groundwork for criminal investigations. Without it, impunity will continue to do what it has always done in Mali: invite more violence.

Sources: Human Rights Watch report published 28 June 2026; interviews conducted April 26 to June 9, 2026; satellite imagery analysis by Human Rights Watch; JNIM written reply, June 15 2026.