Malian soldiers and unidentified "armed white men" likely executed at least 500 people, and sexually assaulted or tortured dozens of others during a five-day operation in the village of Moura in central Mali last year, the U.N. Human Rights Office said on Friday.
On March 27, 2022, Malian soldiers and foreign personnel descended in helicopters and opened fire on fleeing residents, the report said. In a roundup of civilians in the following days, hundreds more were shot and thrown in ditches.
The U.N. report on the incident was released after a months-long investigation into what rights groups say is the worst atrocity in a 10-year conflict between Islamist groups and the army in which thousands have died and millions have been displaced.
