Headline : Sanctioning Leaders of Mali Atrocity

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A force of Malian soldiers, backed by the Wagner Group, set out on a five-day military counter-terrorism operation in Mali. By the time the operation was done, at least 500 people lay dead.

In late March, a force of Malian soldiers, backed by mercenaries belonging to the Russia-backed Wagner Group, a transnational criminal organization, set out on a five-day military counter-terrorism operation to Moura, a village in the Mopti region of central Mali. By the time the operation was done, at least 500 people lay dead. There were reports of torture, and at least 58 women and girls were subjected to sexual violence, including rape.

In late May, the United States Department of State imposed visa restrictions on the leaders of the two Malian units that participated in the operation. Colonel Moustaph Sangare commanded the 33rd Parachute Commando Regiment at the time, and Major Lassine Togola was Acting Commander of the Autonomous Special Forces Battalion. The two men are being sanctioned under Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act for their involvement in gross violations of human rights.

At the same time, the U.S. Justice Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, designated Ivan Aleksandrovich Maslov, pursuant to Executive Order 14024 for having acted for or on behalf of the Wagner Group. Maslov is the leader and principal administrator of the Wagner Group’s paramilitary units in Mali.

Read more from the original article on here at editorials.voa.gov.

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