UNITED NATIONS: UN experts said in a new report that Malian armed forces allegedly carried out an operation with “white-skinned soldiers” near the border with Mauritania in March, shooting and burning at least 33 civilians in one of several operations where the country’s ruling military appeared to work closely with likely Russian mercenaries.
In the first three months of this year, they said 543 civilians were killed and 269 injured, according to the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali.
In the grim and wide-ranging report obtained Friday by The Associated Press, the panel of experts said the political situation remains tense and warned that the 2015 peace agreement between Mali’s government and non-extremist armed independence groups “is threatened by a potential risk of confrontation between the parties for the first time since July 2017.”
They said 12 million people need humanitarian assistance, a sharp increase from 5.9 million last year, including 1.9 million people facing the threat of “acute malnutrition” during the current lean season which lasts through August.
Mali has struggled to contain an Islamic extremist insurgency since 2012. Extremist rebels were forced from power in Mali’s northern cities with the help of a French-led military operation, but they regrouped in the desert and began launching attacks on the Malian army and its allies. Insecurity has worsened with attacks on civilians and UN peacekeepers.
In August 2020, Malian President Boubacar Ibrahim Keita, who died in January, was overthrown in a coup that included Assimi Goita, then an army colonel. Last June, Goita was sworn in as president of a transitional government after carrying out his second coup in nine months and later in the year it reportedly decided to allow the deployment of Russia’s Wagner group.
Wagner passes itself off as a private military contractor but its long believed commitment to Russian interests have become apparent in Ukraine, where its mercenaries are among the Russian forces currently fighting in the country’s separatist eastern regions. In sub-Saharan Africa, Wagner has gained substantial footholds for Russia in Central African Republic and Sudan as well as Mali, where analysts said its role goes beyond merely providing security services.
The 78-page report by the UN experts doesn’t name Wagner in connection with any incidents, but it describes several operations where Malian forces were joined by white soldiers, including one on March 5 in the town of Robinet El Ataye in the Segou region near the border with Mauritania.
According to testimony the experts said, a group of “white-skinned soldiers” arrived in the town, which has a water well frequented by Mauritanians who cross the border in search of pasture for cattle, rounded up men and boys, tied their hands behind their backs and blindfolded them. Women and children were told to go home and the soldiers that reportedly stripped houses of “all possessions including bedding, cellular phones, jewelry, cooking utensils and clothing,” they said.
Later in the morning, the panel said, Malian soldiers arrived in the village started beating the bound and blindfolded men “with heavy sticks used by the herders on their flocks.”
The women heard screams but were blocked by soldiers from leaving their homes, and the Malian forces then released some younger men and carried off at least 33 men, 29 Mauritanians and four Malians who were ethnic Tuaregs, it said.
The women waited for the return of the men, but the panel said they were notified by relatives a day later that the men’s bodies had been found about 4 kilometers away, and they “had been shot and then burnt,” the experts said.
The panel said “a similar pattern of pillage and beatings” occurred at five other locations, but the only place civilians were killed was at Robinet El Ataye.
“In two other locations visited by the Malian Armed Forces, a helicopter carrying `white-skinned soldiers’ allegedly landed at the beginning of the operations” it said.
On the political front, the experts said the 2015 peace agreement is stalled, none of the political and institutional reforms in the agreement have been finalized, a high-level decision-making meeting on disarmament, demobilization and reintegration quotas for combatants initially planned for Feb. 9, 2021 has yet to take place, and there is “a perceptible lack of trust between the government and the signatory armed groups.”
UN experts: Malian military and ‘white’ soldiers killed 33
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UN experts: Malian military and ‘white’ soldiers killed 33
‘Return to your country’ Kabul tells Afghans rebuffed by Washington
- US President Trump this week announced travel ban targeting 12 countries, including Afghanistan
- Afghan PM assures nationals of protection even if they worked with US-led forces against Taliban
KABUL: The Taliban government on Saturday urged Afghans hoping to emigrate to the United States to instead return to Afghanistan, after Washington tightened entry conditions.
US President Donald Trump this week announced a travel ban targeting 12 countries, including Afghanistan, which his proclamation said lacked “competent” central authorities for processing passports and vetting.
Commenting on the ban on Saturday, Prime Minister Hassan Akhund urged Afghans to return to their country, saying they would be protected even if they worked with US-led forces in the two-decade fight against the Taliban insurgency.
“For those who are worried that America has closed its doors to Afghans... I want to tell them, ‘Return to your country, even if you have served the Americans for 20 or 30 years for their ends, and ruined the Islamic system’,” he said in a speech marking the Eid Al-Adha holiday, broadcast by state media.
“You will not face abuse or trouble,” he said, making reassurances that the Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada had “granted amnesty for all.”
After surging to power in 2021, Taliban authorities announced a general amnesty for Afghans who worked with the Western-backed forces and government. However, the United Nations has recorded reports of extrajudicial killings, detentions and abuses.
In the past four years, the Taliban government has imposed a strict view of Islamic law and restrictions on women which the UN says amount to “gender apartheid.”
Afghans fled in droves to neighboring countries during decades of conflict, but the chaotic withdrawal of US-led troops saw a new wave clamoring to escape Taliban government curbs and fears of reprisal for working with Washington.
The United States has not had a working embassy in Afghanistan since 2021 and Afghans must apply for visas in third countries, principally Pakistan which has recently ramped up campaigns to expel Afghans.
Since Trump returned to the White House in January, Afghans have gradually seen their chances of migrating to the United States or staying there shrink.
Trump administration orders have disrupted refugee pathways and revoked legal protections temporarily shielding Afghans from deportation starting in July.
France’s president will visit Greenland in a show of EU unity, Danish leader says
- Frederiksen and the French leader said they will meet in the semiautonomous Danish territory on June 15
- Frederiksen acknowledged the “difficult foreign policy situation in recent months”
COPENHAGEN: French President Emmanuel Macron will travel to Greenland next weekend, the Danish prime minister’s office said Saturday — a visit by a high-profile European Union leader in the wake of US expressions of interest in taking over the mineral-rich Arctic island.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and the French leader said they will meet in the semiautonomous Danish territory on June 15, hosted by Greenland’s new prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen.
The visit by Macron, whose nuclear-armed country has one of the EU’s strongest militaries, comes as US President Donald Trump hasn’t ruled out using force to carry out his desire for the resource-rich and strategically located island to become part of the United States.
While the issue of US interest in Greenland has drifted from the headlines in recent weeks, Nielsen said in late April that such comments by US leaders have been disrespectful and that Greenland will never be “a piece of property” that anyone can buy.
In the statement Saturday, Frederiksen acknowledged the “difficult foreign policy situation in recent months” but praised “great international support” for Greenland and Denmark.
“President Macron’s upcoming visit to Greenland is yet another concrete testament to European unity,” she said, alluding to the membership of France and Denmark in the 27-member-country EU.
The three leaders were expected to discuss security in the North Atlantic and the Arctic, as well as issues of economic development, climate change and energy during the visit, her office said.
Wagner Group leaving Mali after heavy losses but Russia’s Africa Corps to remain
Mali, along with neighbors Burkina Faso and Niger, has for more than a decade battled an insurgency fought by armed groups
DAKAR: The Russia-backed Wagner Group said Friday it is leaving Mali after more than three and a half years of fighting Islamic extremists and insurgents in the country.
Despite Wagner’s announcement, Russia will continue to have a mercenary presence in the West African country. The Africa Corps, Russia’s state-controlled paramilitary force, said on its Telegram channel Friday that Wagner’s departure would not introduce any changes and the Russian contingent will remain in Mali.
“Mission accomplished. Private Military Company Wagner returns home,” the group announced via its channel on the messaging app Telegram. It said it had brought all regional capitals under control of the Malian army, pushed out armed militants and killed their commanders.
Mali, along with neighbors Burkina Faso and Niger, has for more than a decade battled an insurgency fought by armed groups, including some allied with Al-Qaeda and the Daesh group.
As Western influence in the region has waned, Russia has sought to step into the vacuum, sweeping in with offers of assistance. Moscow initially expanded its military cooperation with African nations by using the Wagner Group of mercenaries. But since the group’s leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was killed in a plane crash in 2023, after mounting a brief armed rebellion in Russia that challenged the rule of President Vladimir Putin, Moscow has been developing the Africa Corps as a rival force to Wagner.
Africa Corps is under direct command of the Russian defense ministry.
According to US officials, there are around 2,000 mercenaries in Mali. It is unclear how many are with Wagner and how many are part of the Africa Corps.
Beverly Ochieng, a security analyst specializing in the Sahel for Control Risks consultancy, said the Russian defense ministry had been negotiating with Mali to take on more Africa Corps fighters and for Wagner mercenaries to join Russia’s state-controlled paramilitary force.
“Since the death of Prigozhin, Russia has had this whole plan to then make the Wagner Group fall under the command of the Ministry of Defense. One of the steps they made was to revamp or introduce the Africa Corps, which is the way in which the Russian paramilitaries would retain a presence in areas where the Wagner group has been operating,” Ochieng said.
Wagner has been present in Mali since late 2021 following a military coup, replacing French troops and international peacekeepers to help fight the militants. But the Malian army and Russian mercenaries struggled to curb violence in the country and have both been accused of targeting civilians.
Last month, United Nations experts urged Malian authorities to investigate reports of alleged summary executions and forced disappearances by Wagner mercenaries and the army.
In December, Human Rights Watch accused Malian armed forces and the Wagner Group of deliberately killing at least 32 civilians over an 8-month span.
The announcement of Wagner’s withdrawal comes as the Malian army and the Russian mercenaries suffered heavy losses during attacks by the Al-Qaeda linked group JNIM in recent weeks.
Last week, JNIM fighters killed dozens of soldiers in an attack on a military base in central Mali.
Rida Lyammouri, a Sahel expert at the Morocco-based Policy Center for the New South, said the major losses might have caused the possible end of Wagner’s mission.
“The lack of an official and mutual announcement from both the Malian authorities and Wagner indicate possible internal dispute which led to this sudden decision. Simultaneously, this could point to a new framework for Russian presence in the country,” he said.
Replacing Wagner with Africa Corps troops would likely shift Russia’s focus in Mali from fighting alongside the Malian army to training, said Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel program at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.
“Africa Corps has a lighter footprint and focuses more on training, providing equipment and doing protection services. They fight less than the ‘Rambo-type’ Wagner mercenaries,” Laessing said.
‘Return to your country’ Kabul tells Afghans rebuffed by Washington
- Akhund urged Afghans to return to their country, saying they would be protected even if they worked with US-led forces
- “You will not face abuse or trouble”
KABUL: The Taliban government on Saturday urged Afghans hoping to emigrate to the United States to instead return to Afghanistan, after Washington tightened entry conditions.
US President Donald Trump this week announced a travel ban targeting 12 countries, including Afghanistan, which his proclamation said lacked “competent” central authorities for processing passports and vetting.
Commenting on the ban on Saturday, Prime Minister Hassan Akhund urged Afghans to return to their country, saying they would be protected even if they worked with US-led forces in the two-decade fight against the Taliban insurgency.
“For those who are worried that America has closed its doors to Afghans... I want to tell them, ‘Return to your country, even if you have served the Americans for 20 or 30 years for their ends, and ruined the Islamic system’,” he said in a speech marking the Eid Al-Adha holiday, broadcast by state media.
“You will not face abuse or trouble,” he said, making reassurances that the Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada had “granted amnesty for all.”
After surging to power in 2021, Taliban authorities announced a general amnesty for Afghans who worked with the Western-backed forces and government. However, the United Nations has recorded reports of extrajudicial killings, detentions and abuses.
In the past four years, the Taliban government has imposed a strict view of Islamic law and restrictions on women which the UN says amount to “gender apartheid.”
Afghans fled in droves to neighboring countries during decades of conflict, but the chaotic withdrawal of US-led troops saw a new wave clamouring to escape Taliban government curbs and fears of reprisal for working with Washington.
The United States has not had a working embassy in Afghanistan since 2021 and Afghans must apply for visas in third countries, principally Pakistan which has recently ramped up campaigns to expel Afghans.
Since Trump returned to the White House in January, Afghans have gradually seen their chances of migrating to the United States or staying there shrink.
Trump administration orders have disrupted refugee pathways and revoked legal protections temporarily shielding Afghans from deportation starting in July.
Ukrainian attack damaged 10 percent of Russia’s strategic bombers, Germany says
- “More than a dozen aircraft were damaged, TU-95 and TU-22 strategic bombers as well as A-50 surveillance planes,” Freuding said
- US estimates that Ukraine’s audacious drone attack hit as many as 20 Russian warplanes
BERLIN: A Ukrainian drone attack last weekend likely damaged around 10 percent of Russia’s strategic bomber fleet and hit some of the aircraft as they were being prepared for strikes on Ukraine, a senior German military official said.
“According to our assessment, more than a dozen aircraft were damaged, TU-95 and TU-22 strategic bombers as well as A-50 surveillance planes,” German Major General Christian Freuding said in a YouTube podcast reviewed by Reuters ahead of its publication later on Saturday.
The affected A-50s, which function similarly to NATO’s AWACS planes by providing aerial situational awareness, were likely non-operational when they were hit, said the general who coordinates Berlin’s military aid to Kyiv and is in close touch with the Ukrainian defense ministry.
“We believe that they can no longer be used for spare parts. This is a loss, as only a handful of these aircraft exist,” he said. “As for the long-range bomber fleet, 10 percent of it has been damaged in the attack according to our assessment.”
The United States estimates that Ukraine’s audacious drone attack hit as many as 20 Russian warplanes, destroying around 10 of them, two US officials told Reuters, and experts say Moscow will take years to replace the affected planes.
Despite the losses, Freuding does not see any immediate reduction of Russian strikes against Ukraine, noting that Moscow still retains 90 percent of its strategic bombers which can launch ballistic and cruise missiles in addition to dropping bombs.
“But there is, of course, an indirect effect as the remaining planes will need to fly more sorties, meaning they will be worn out faster, and, most importantly, there is a huge psychological impact.”
Freuding said Russia had felt safe in its vast territory, which also explained why there was little protection for the aircraft.
“After this successful operation, this no longer holds true. Russia will need to ramp up the security measures.”
According to Freuding, Ukraine attacked two air fields around 100 kilometers (62 miles) from Moscow, as well as the Olenya air field in the Murmansk region and the Belaya air field, with drones trained with the help of artificial intelligence.
A fifth attack on the Ukrainka air field near the Chinese border failed, he said.
The bombers that were hit were part of Russia’s so-called nuclear triad which enables nuclear weapons deployment by air, sea and ground, he added.
