Mali’s army sealed off the central town of Sevare to journalists on Wednesday following allegations by residents and human rights groups that government soldiers had executed Tuaregs and Arabs accused of collaborating with Islamist rebels.
The allegations, which have been denied by the Malian army, threatened to cast a shadow over a French-led operation to drive Islamist fighters allied to al Qaeda from northern Mali.
They also pointed to a risk the internationally backed military campaign could trigger further racially motivated killings in Mali’s desert north, home to complex mix of ethnic groups.
A Reuters reporter saw at least six bodies in two areas of the Walirdi district of Sevare. Three of them were lying, partly covered in sand, near a bus station and showed signs of having been burned. Three more had been thrown into a nearby well.
Oumar, a jewellery salesman who has long worked closely with Sevare’s Tuareg community, said his friend Hamid Ag Mohamed had been arrested by soldiers shortly after President Diouncounda Traore declared a state of emergency on January 11, handing the military sweeping powers.
“I tried to call him but the phone rang and he never answered. The next day his body was behind the station in Sevare,” said Oumar, who declined to give his family name for fear of reprisals.
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