Experts seek investigation of Wagner Group, Mali forces

GENEVA (AP) — Independent human rights experts working with the U.N. are calling for an investigation of possible abuses, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by government forces in Mali and Russian military contractor the Wagner Group. More than a dozen experts on Tuesday cited accounts of “horrific executions, mass graves, acts of torture, rape and sexual violence” and other alleged crimes over the last two years by government forces and “their allies” in the West African country. Western officials say hundreds of fighters from the Wagner Group began working alongside Mali’s armed forces to try to stem a decade-long insurgency by Islamic extremists in the West African country. But the extremists have only become stronger since.