In a report, the rights group said that instances of war crimes and violence against civilians had risen since 2018, particularly in conflict-torn central Mali.

The rights group listed massacres variously blamed on jihadists, Malian armed forces or the French army, which first intervened in the country in 2013.

"Abuses have... been committed against civilians by armed Islamist groups such as the GSIM and EIGS, whose insurgency has gradually spread from the north to the central regions," it said, referring to the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM) and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (EIGS).

"Among numerous incidents, for example, suspected GSIM members killed at least 32 people in the villages of Tori and Diallassagou in July 2020. Numerous people have been abducted and held captive by members of these groups during the period covered by this report. Villages have been blockaded, impeding the most basic rights of individuals."

Mali has been struggling to quell a brutal jihadist conflict that first emerged in 2012, before spreading to neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.

Poorly paid Malian soldiers are also often accused of committing abuses against civilians.

Amnesty said in a statement accompanying its report on Wednesday that "impunity still prevails" in Mali despite pledges from authorities to investigate recent massacres.

Many of the documented abuses constitute war crimes or crimes against humanity, the rights group said.

Investigations are hampered by rampant insecurity, as well few protections for witnesses and illegal detentions of suspects by the country's intelligence services.

"Impunity for the most serious crimes only encourages their repetition and the cycle of violence thus continues," the report said.

Amnesty called for more financial and technical resources for Mali's judicial system, as well as greater political will to advance the investigations.

A landlocked nation of 21 million people, Mali is one of the poorest countries in the world.