Russia has blocked a request to the UN Security Council for an “independent investigation” into the alleged killing of several hundred civilians in Mali by the Malian army and Russian paramilitaries, diplomatic sources told AFP on Saturday.
On 1 April, the Malian army announced that it had killed 203 “extremists” in Moura in central Mali during an operation in late March.
However, this news was followed by massive social media reports of massacres of civilians in the area. Human Rights Watch claims that Malian soldiers and foreign fighters executed 300 civilians there between March 27 and 31. The UN’s request for an investigation was included in a statement prepared by France and submitted to the Security Council for approval on Friday.
But China-backed Russia “sees no need” for the text and considers it “premature” given Malian authorities have opened an investigation.