Airstrike in Mali Kills 18, Army, Rebels Dispute

A separatist group in Mali has claimed that an airstrike on a market in the country’s north killed at least 18 people, while the Malian army states the attack targeted armed militants.

The Collective for the Defense of the Rights of the Azawad People, a Tuareg separatist coalition, reported that the strike took place 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of Lerneb in the Timbuktu region. The group condemned the attack as a “barbaric act from another age” in a statement released late Monday, adding that seven people were also injured. In contrast, Mali’s army said on X that its airstrikes hit a militant “refuge” in the area, resulting in the deaths of 11 “terrorists.”

For over a decade, Mali and its neighbours Burkina Faso and Niger have been fighting an insurgency led by armed groups, including factions linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State. Following military coups in all three nations, their ruling juntas expelled French forces and sought security support from Russian mercenary units. In Mali, interim president Assimi Goita, in power since 2021, has struggled to contain the violence, with the army facing accusations of targeting civilians.

Last month, the Front for the Liberation of Azawad, a coalition of Tuareg separatist groups, accused Malian forces and Wagner Group mercenaries of executing at least 24 people in northern Mali.

Conflicting accounts of the latest attack may stem from military operations in civilian-populated areas, according to Rida Lyammouri, a senior fellow at Morocco’s Policy Center for the New South. He noted that jihadi fighters frequently visit markets for supplies, which could have influenced the army’s decision to strike despite potential civilian casualties.

“The Malian army may have considered the targets important enough to justify collateral damage, but civilians were likely not the primary objective,” Lyammouri said.

He also suggested that both the army and separatists may have misrepresented the identities of those killed to support their narratives—either as part of counterterrorism efforts or as evidence of human rights violations to push for greater autonomy.

AFRICANEWS/S.S