Armed groups in Mali are undermining a peace agreement signed with the government three years ago because of their links to drug smuggling, human trafficking and terrorism, according to a UN report.

Despite $286m (£220m) spent implementing the agreement between June 2015 and June 2018, the humanitarian situation in Mali remains “grave, precarious, dire and volatile”, driven by terrorism and organised crime, the security council committee found.

The level of need in the arid west African country, one of the poorest in the world, is higher now than at any point since the beginning of the security crisis in 2012, with 5.2 million people requiring humanitarian assistance, up from 3.8 million in 2017.

Unusually, the panel named individual members of the signatory armed groups and splinter groups whom the experts says are involved in attacks against Malian security and armed forces, and in organised crime.

The panel said it did not identify any individuals or entities deliberately obstructing the 2015 agreement. However, the experts identified individuals who indirectly threaten implementation of the deal because of their involvement in violence. The panel also found anti-terrorist operations conducted by the army in Mali had led to civilian deaths and to increased intercommunal violence.

The 2015 agreement was signed by Mali government, an alliance of pro-government militia known as the Plateforme, and a coalition of groups called the Coordination of Movements of Azawad, or CMA, which includes ethnic Arabs and Tuaregs, who seek autonomy in the north.

Last week, France said it had proposed that members of armed groups in Mali who are delaying implementation of the deal should be put on a UN blacklist.

Jean-Hervé Jezequel, director of the Sahel project at the International Crisis Group, a conflict resolution organisation, said any decision on imposing sanctions on individuals would be difficult for the security council.

“It constitutes an interesting move from the UN – and more specifically from the UN panel of experts – to clearly point fingers at individuals and groups, in the hope that it would encourage all signatory parties to clarify their position. It could also be an incentive for those latter to demonstrate much more willingness to implement the peace agreement,” said Jezequel.

“However, it remains to be seen if the UNSC will take effective sanctions against individuals in the coming weeks. This is going to be a tough call. For instance, would the UN go as far as to sanction members of armed groups who are engaged in violent criminal and/or smuggling activities, but are at the same time also helping in the fight against Jihadi groups?”

The panel said it had credible information that the military commander of a splinter rebel group, Alkassoum Ag Abdoulaye, participated in attacks against a Malian armed forces camp near Soumpi on 24 October 2017 and 27 January 2018. It also named Mohamed Ousmane Ag Mohamedoune, a Tuareg head of a splinter group to the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad, as being active in delaying the implementation of the peace agreement in Timbuktu and in Gao region.

However, the experts also highlighted civilian killings as a result of anti-terror operations by the Malian army. It had reviewed information that “suggests a worrying pattern of human rights violations by the security forces during counter-terrorist operations”.

In June, Reuters reported that Malian forces involved in the fight against Islamist militants executed 12 civilians in retaliation after a soldier was killed in an attack in May.

Mali has been in crisis since 2012, after an uprising by Tuaregs sparked the overthrow of the country's president. Tuaregs allied with Islamist militants seized the north until French-led military forces scattered the jihadis in 2013.

The country has been plagued with violence ever since. Extremists linked to Isis and al-Qaida are active in northern and central Mali, with attacks ramping up in recent months. Analysts say Islamist groups have exploited local grievances and fears to extend their influence.

A recent report by International Alert that looked at the rise of violent extremism in the central Sahel among Fulani communities found that state abuse and unchecked corruption were the main drivers for young people joining Islamists groups in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.