Five days of horror and carnage: this is what the inhabitants of Moura, in the center of Mali, describe. The Malian army claims to have carried out an anti-terrorist operation there from March 27 to 31 and claims the deaths of more than 200 jihadists. However, the inhabitants of this city and several NGOs ensure that the majority of the victims are civilians. franceinfo met two survivors who took refuge in Bamako.
>> Mali: what happened in Moura, where hundreds of people were killed by the Malian army and Russian mercenaries?
Ali* remembers the arrival of the helicopters, returning from the bush. “We were taken to the side of the road. For five days without sleep, we got very little water.” On the screen of his phone, the 19-year-old man points to the site of his ordeal. He saw a few hundred meters from his house the men were executed one by one† “Anyone who was afraid, they put them aside and killed them. They said those who were afraid of the soldiers must have been terrorists.”
In Mali, survivors of the Moura massacre testify at Manon Laplace’s microphone for franceinfo
Ali watched members of his family die before his very eyes. “I saw four of my wife’s uncles shot. Also, many carnies died every Sunday.” There have been “kill too many” to keep an accurate count, he said, staring into space. He claims to have buried a hundred. “We put 50 bodies in one pit, 60 in another.”
“We put them in mats and wore them. It was terrible, some of their heads were in pieces. It was very hard.”
Ali, native of Moura (Mali)at franceinfo
Adama* also remembers the helicopters, the shootings and the summary executions. “First there were two helicopters. They only transported white people. They were the ones who did the most damage…”this man breathes. If the survivors Do not mention the Russian paramilitary group Wagner by name, according to several witnesses these white soldiers did not speak French. For them, they were probably Russian mercenaries.
This element is accredited by “various safe sources” with the NGO Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. The Malian authorities still refute the presence of Russian mercenaries and speak of instructors. Nevertheless, the military judiciary opened an investigation into the case on April 7.
*Names have been changed.
