France on Tuesday demanded an investigation over reports of mass killings in central Mali allegedly committed by the Malian army along with Russian Wagner Group mercenaries.

A Foreign Ministry statement asserted that elements of the Malian armed forces accompanied by Russian mercenaries allegedly caused the death of hundreds of civilians in the village of Moura.

Mali's military on April 1 said it had killed 203 combatants in a large-scale air and land operation on March 23-31 in Moura, which it said had been a “stronghold of terrorists for several years.”

Unlike the French statement, the Malian armed forces official statement made no mention of the participation of the Wagner Group in the operation, conducted 400 kilometers (250 miles) northeast of the capital, Bamako.

Investigation of Wagner involvement

The US also expressed concern over human rights violations, saying many reports suggested the Kremlin-backed Wagner Group and the Malian Armed Forces have targeted elements of known violent extremist groups.

A Radio France International (RFI) report said that testimonies from local villagers confirmed Wagner mercenaries were deployed in “very large numbers” and even outnumbered Malian soldiers in the operation.

The ministry has called for national authorities and the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) to open investigations to “establish responsibility for these acts and bring their perpetrators to justice.”

France claimed there has been a rise in the incidents of violence with impunity in central Mali since the beginning of this year. “The fight against terrorist groups operating in the Sahel can in no way justify violations of human rights. Indiscriminate violence against civilian populations only reinforces these groups,” the statement said.

France and other European countries last year decried Mali’s decision to deploy the Wagner Group while demanding European military forces withdraw from the country.

Turkiye in 2019 criticized the Wager Group for supporting putschists in Libya.

Paris last June announced the end of its flagship anti-terrorism operation Barkhane and the closing of military bases in Mali amid growing local opposition and political mistrust following a coup.

Since 2014, France had deployed over 5000 military personnel across the Sahel region countries of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger under Operation Barkhane to fight extremist groups. (Anadolu Agency)

•PHOTO: A Russian armored personnel carrier drives in the street during the delivery of armored vehicles to the Central African Republic army in Bangui, Central African Republic, on Oct. 15, 2020. CAMILLE LAFFONT/AFP/GETTY IMAGES