UN experts: Malian military and ‘white’ soldiers killed 33

By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — U.N. experts say 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 2022, they said 543 civilians were killed and 269 injured, citing the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Mali. In the grim report obtained Friday by AP, the experts warned that a 2015 peace agreement between Mali’s government and non-extremist armed independence groups “is threatened.”