February 19
19:47
2016
Malian jihadists and security forces alike have committed appalling abuses against civilians in the last year, rights groups said Friday, as Islamist groups make new inroads into the west African country. Reports by Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) document jihadists murdering, raping and assaulting Malian citizens, while soldiers were accused of torture and arbitrary detention. The encroachment of armed groups beyond the country's troubled north and into the centre and south of the country along its borders with Mauritania and Burkina Faso was also raised as a new area of concern in the HRW report.
