In a deeply disturbing incident, forces operating under the banner of Africa Corps, reportedly controlled by the Russian government, summarily executed nine civilians, including four children, and subjected dozens of others to brutal beatings in central Mali during early July 2026. My investigation reveals that these fighters also engaged in widespread looting and set fire to at least eight homes, seemingly in pursuit of individuals suspected of affiliations with Islamist armed groups.
The assault on Bombori village, situated in the Mopti region, commenced around 5 AM on July 10. Over 100 Africa Corps combatants, accompanied by several Malian soldiers, arrived in pick-up trucks and on motorcycles. They forcibly entered residences within the Peul quarter, dragging residents out and corralling at least 80 men and boys beneath a tree. There, the fighters mercilessly beat the detainees, interrogating them about alleged ties to Islamist armed factions and threatening their lives if they withheld information. Six civilians attempting to flee were shot dead, while three others were arrested and then executed, one of whom was decapitated.
“The Malian junta appears to have granted Russian-controlled Africa Corps forces carte blanche to commit atrocities against civilians,” stated Ilaria Allegrozzi, my senior Sahel researcher. “Malian authorities cannot evade their legal obligations by allowing Africa Corps to perpetrate such abuses. A swift and impartial investigation into these violations is imperative, and all those responsible, including any Malian military personnel implicated, must be brought to justice.”
Between July 19 and July 30, my team conducted remote interviews with 13 individuals, comprising four direct witnesses to the attack and nine civil society members and community leaders, to gather firsthand accounts.
Witnesses consistently indicated that Russian forces spearheaded the operation in Bombori, with four Malian soldiers primarily serving as interpreters. “The Russians were in charge… There were more than 100 of them, all in military fatigues and heavily armed,” recounted a 39-year-old villager. “A white man with two walkie-talkies seemed to be the leader. Every time he asked a question, he fired into the air.”
A 57-year-old butcher, another witness, described seeing “seven pick-up trucks mounted with machine guns, and over 60 motorcycles displaying Malian flags.”
Bombori has been under the control of the Al-Qaeda-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM or Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, JNIM) since 2017, with a base located just a kilometer away. However, witnesses confirmed that GSIM fighters had departed the village the day before the attack.
Since 2012, successive Malian governments have grappled with Islamist armed groups. Following the coups in 2020 and 2021, the military junta expelled French and UN forces, subsequently strengthening its ties with Russia. From 2021, the junta relied on the Russian-linked Wagner Group for security assistance. In June 2025, the Wagner Group announced its withdrawal from Mali, claiming its mission was “accomplished.” This armed group was then replaced by Africa Corps, which operates under Kremlin control and largely comprises the same personnel, including many former Wagner combatants and some of its key leaders.
Since 2021, our investigations have documented widespread abuses committed by the Malian army, the Wagner Group, and Africa Corps during counter-insurgency operations across the country.
Witnesses described how, on July 10, Africa Corps forces opened fire on civilians fleeing Bombori before detaining and assaulting men and boys. “I saw two men fall under the bullets,” a 40-year-old man recalled. “I looked to my left and saw two motorcycles with two white military personnel; the first one, seated on a motorcycle, continued to shoot 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, seized all our phones, and photographed us,” he continued. “One Russian [fighter] kicked us, another hit 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 pushed me outside, flat on my stomach,” before forcing him towards the gathering point. “We were all sitting on the ground, heads down,” he recounted. “A Russian fighter hit anyone who looked up with the butt of his rifle.”
He detailed the Africa Corps fighters’ interrogation methods: “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 you all!’”
Witnesses reported that Africa Corps forces removed three young men from the group of detainees and drove away 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 recounted. “Later, we found them dead.” Locals explained that these three men had occasionally assisted GSIM in collecting “taxes” (“zakat” in Arabic) but were not combatants.
Residents 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 GSIM and allied offensives in April and July across Mali. “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 affirmed that on July 10, GSIM fighters were not present in Bombori. “GSIM fighters left during the night, while everyone was asleep,” the 39-year-old man stated. “They don’t 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 to the chest and back.” Regarding the three men taken away, he indicated 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] signs of bullet wounds to the head and… lying face down next to each other.”
Bombori village is divided into two ethnic quarters: one inhabited by the Rimaïbé and the other by the Peuls. Africa Corps forces exclusively targeted the Peul sector. “I remained seated at my brother’s forge, and I 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 historically focused its recruitment efforts on the Peuls, and Malian governments have often conflated the Peul community with Islamist fighters, leading to severe abuses against Peul populations.
Africa Corps forces also reportedly stole money and jewelry and set fire to at least eight homes belonging to Peul families whose sons, according to witnesses, were GSIM fighters. “I saw smoke rising from the Peul 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 stores.”
On August 4 and 5, I sent inquiries outlining these findings and posing questions to the Russian Defense Minister and to Assimi Goïta, President and Defense Minister of Mali, respectively. To date, no response has been received.
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 strictly 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, can face prosecution for war crimes.
“The Bombori massacre is emblematic of the atrocities being committed in Mali,” concluded Ilaria Allegrozzi. “Villagers are trapped between an Islamist armed group and the government with its Russian allies, with neither belligerent upholding international law.”
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