Exclusive: UN investigators say Wagner Group fighters did not mark mines’ positions and may have rigged bomb to teddy bear. Russian mercenaries in Libya systematically broke international law by laying mines in civilian areas without any attempt to mark their location or remove the lethal devices, UN investigators have found. According to a confidential UN report that will be made public in the coming weeks, fighters from the Wagner Group, a private military company that has been repeatedly linked to the Kremlin by western officials, also rigged booby traps to powerful explosive anti-tank weapons that were responsible for the death of two mine clearers working for an NGO. Investigators suspect that a booby trap found in a civilian neighbourhood in Tripoli – made of a mortar shell and plastic explosive attached to a teddy bear – was also the work of Wagner fighters. The conclusions of the report, by a specialist team that works for a UN committee charged with monitoring the sanctions regime and arms embargo on Libya, will reinforce growing concern in western capitals about the role played by Wagner across Africa. Last month the Guardian revealed that internal military memos in Mali linked Wagner to a series of massacres there. Wagner has also been accused of human rights abuses in Central African Republic, where in recent months its fighters have been battling rebels on behalf of the government. Alleged Wagner group fighters have also been accused of murdering civilians during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
via guardian: Russian mercenaries accused over use of mines and booby traps in Libya