No fewer than eight civilians have been reportedly killed in central Mali, on Sunday, January 5, New Telegraph reports.

Following the incident, multiple sources have accused the Malian Army and Russia’s Wagner Group of carrying out the attack in the conflict-ridden West African nation.

The incident reportedly occurred on Thursday when a vehicle heading towards a refugee camp in Mauritania came under fire between Niono and Nampala.

A local official, speaking anonymously, stated that all passengers were killed and buried in a mass grave.

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The Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), a coalition of separatist groups in northern Mali, claimed nine civilians, including women and children, were killed in what it described as a “deliberate criminal act” by the Malian army and Wagner mercenaries.

Mali has been gripped by a security and political crisis since 2012, marked by jihadist insurgencies and separatist uprisings.

The military junta, which seized power in coups in 2020 and 2021, has shifted its military alliances from France and European partners to Russia, including collaboration with Wagner.

Neither the Malian army nor the defence ministry has commented on the incident.

Humanitarian sources have corroborated the civilian deaths, highlighting ongoing challenges in the region’s volatile security landscape.