Human Rights Watch (HRW) has released a report documenting serious violations committed by all parties to Mali's armed conflict following a major escalation on 25 April 2026, when jihadist group JNIM (Groupe de soutien à l'islam et aux musulmans, an Al-Qaeda-linked organisation) and separatist fighters of the Front de libération de l'Azawad seized the northern city of Kidal and killed Mali's Defence Minister, Sadio Camara. The report details at least 13 civilian deaths and 25 injuries in Gao and Kidal alone during the April clashes, while JNIM's subsequent blockade of the capital Bamako saw more than 40 civilian vehicles burned between 6 and 21 May; the Malian army and its Russian Africa Corps auxiliaries are separately accused of killing 38 civilians — including 23 children — in four days of counter-insurgency operations against Fulani communities, as well as drone strikes on a wedding in the village of Téné that left 10 civilians dead. HRW is calling on the United Nations and the African Union to support an independent fact-finding mission and accountability measures, warning that long-standing impunity is perpetuating the cycle of abuse against civilians.