At least 21 civilians, including 11 children have been killed in airstrikes on a village in northern Mali near the Algerian border Sunday, said a spokesman for a coalition of Tuareg-majority pro-independence groups.
The drone attacks on the village of Tinzaouatine would mark the largest number of civilians killed since the breakdown of a peace agreement in the restive country. The country's ruling military junta and armed pro-independence groups in northern Mali struck a peace agreement last year.
The strikes Sunday targeted a pharmacy, then other strikes followed that targeted people gathering in the vicinity of the initial damage, the coalition said in a statement.
The Strategic Framework for the Defense of the People of Azawad is a coalition of Tuareg-majority groups fighting for the independence of northern Mali, which they call Azawad.
“The provisional toll of these criminal strikes stands at 21 civilians killed, including 11 children and the pharmacy manager, dozens wounded and enormous material damage," said the statement signed by Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, spokesman for the rebel coalition present in the village.
In a statement broadcast on national television, Mali's armed forces confirmed the strikes.
“The General Staff of the Armed Forces confirms airstrikes in the Tinzaouatine sector on the morning of August 25, 2024. These precision strikes targeted terrorists,” the statement said.
The strikes come a few weeks after the Malian army and mercenaries from the Russia-based Wagner Group were defeated by Tuareg rebels and fighters from the Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, an al-Qaida linked group.
“Malian forces along with Russian mercenaries lack strong presence on the ground in the Kidal region, so the use of air assets, including drones is the only way they could engage against armed groups in the area," said Rida Lyammouri, a senior fellow at the Policy Center for the New South, a Moroccan think tank.
"Therefore airstrikes, including against civilians, are expected to increase as an act of revenge following the recent major setback to Wagner mercenaries in northern Mali.”
(With PTI inputs)
