DOUANKARA, Mauritania — A new Russian military unit that replaced the Wagner mercenary group is carrying out abuses including rapes and beheadings as it teams up with Mali 's military to hunt down extremists, dozens of civilians who fled the fighting have told The Associated Press.

The Africa Corps is using the same tactics as Wagner, the refugees said, in accounts not reported by international media until now. Two refugees showed videos of villages burned by the “white men.” Two others said they found bodies of loved ones with liver and kidneys missing, an abuse the AP previously reported around Wagner.

“It’s a scorched-earth policy,” said a Malian village chief who fled. “The soldiers speak to no one. Anyone they see, they shoot. No questions, no warning. People don’t even know why the

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