Drone attacks kill at least six people on the Mali-Algeria border.
Drone attacks killed at least six civilians on Tuesday in a northern Mali town where the military and its Russian partners had sustained heavy losses fighting separatist fighters, local officials and separatists told AFP.
The Malian army announced on Tuesday that it had initiated an aerial operation in conjunction with Burkina Faso’s military at Tinzaouatene, near the Algerian border.
The strike, according to the army, was carried out under the collective defense framework of the recently formed Confederation of Sahel States, which includes the military regimes of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.
“The drones killed at least six civilians Tuesday — among them Sudanese, Nigeriens, and Chadians,” a local official stated after the strike.Another official accused armed troops and Russian fighters of killing ten individuals during the attack.
Separatist spokesman Mohamed Elmaouloud, told AFP that “drone fire from the Malian army accompanied by Wagner (Russian fighters) targeted civilian gold miners working in a mine near the Algerian border”.
He added there had been “dozens of deaths, mainly Nigerien Hausa and Chadians”.
A Malian source told AFP that “the drones targeted and hit a pick-up transporting terrorists and their weapons”, without giving further details.
The Malian army and Wagner acknowledged a serious setback in the region on Saturday, taking heavy losses in fighting against separatist rebels and jihadists.
In a rare acknowledgment, the Malian army announced on Monday that it had lost a “large number” of soldiers.
Following three days of fierce fighting around Tinzaouatene, the CSP-DPA alliance, a primarily Tuareg separatist coalition, declared a huge victory over the army and its Russian supporters.
The Al-Qaeda-affiliated Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM) also claimed to have attacked an army convoy and Wagner mercenaries close south of Tinzaouatene.
The JNIM claimed to have murdered 50 Russians and 10 Malians, but AFP was unable to verify the accusations.
On Monday, the Wagner group claimed to have suffered significant losses, including the death of its commander.
The West African nation’s military leaders, who took power in a 2020 coup, have made it a top mission to reclaim the entire country from separatists and jihadists.
At the same time, the junta ended its military ties with former colonial power France and looked to Russia for assistance.
AFP
