The group was headed for Algeria at the time of the deadly attack, according to a family member of one of the vehicles’ drivers who spoke to AFP from the northern city of Gao.

On condition of anonymity, they stated, “My cousin is the driver of the first vehicle.”

“Some Malian soldiers and a band of Wagner mercenaries opened fire on them. Everyone perished in the first vehicle. They added, “My cousin too,” adding that among the passengers were nomads and illegal migrants.

When AFP contacted Mali’s army on Monday, they declined to comment on the allegations.

A military source, however, denied the allegations, stating that while an investigation was being conducted, “the army killed no one.”

“What transpired is grave. A representative from the Gao region told AFP, “These were civilians who were killed in the two vehicles in the Tilemsi region.”

“There are at least 20 dead in the two vehicles overall,” he stated.

The Front for the Liberation of Azawad (FLA), a separatist rebel organization, denounced the ongoing “ethnic cleansing carried out by the Bamako junta against the Azawad population.”

Two vehicles “were intercepted by the terrorist coalition FAMA (Malian Armed Forces)/Wagner,” according to the FLA statement.

The statement went on to say, “The Malian army and Wagner’s Russian mercenaries coldly executed at least 24 passengers, including women and children.”

With a military junta in power after coups in 2020 and 2021, Mali has been embroiled in a security crisis for the past 12 years as a result of acts of violence committed by Al-Qaida and Islamic State-affiliated groups.

Since severing relations with former colonial ruler France, Wagner mercenaries have provided support to the military junta.

In December, the nongovernmental organization Human Rights Watch condemned the “atrocities” carried out by Islamist armed groups, the Malian army, and its Russian ally Wagner against civilians.