BAMAKO: Drone attacks killed at least six civilians Tuesday in a northern Mali town where the military and its Russian allies recently suffered heavy losses fighting separatist rebels, local officials and separatists told AFP.
The Malian army said Tuesday that it had launched an aerial attack in coordination with Burkina Faso’s military at Tinzaouatene near the Algerian border.
The army said the attack had been carried out under the collective defense mechanism of the recently-formed Confederation of Sahel States, which unites 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 said after the attack.
Another official accused armed forces and the Russian fighters of killing 10 people in 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.
The Malian army on Monday said it had suffered a “large number” of deaths, in a rare admission.
The CSP-DPA alliance, a mainly Tuareg separatist coalition, claimed a major victory over the army and its Russian allies at the weekend following three days of intense combat around Tinzaouatene.
The Al-Qaeda-linked group Jama’at Nusrat Al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM) also claimed it had attacked an army convoy and Wagner mercenaries just south of Tinzaouatene.
JNIM said it killed 50 Russians and 10 Malians, though AFP could not verify the claims.
The Wagner group on Monday likewise admitted severe losses, including a commander.
The West African nation’s military leaders, who seized power in a 2020 coup, have made it a priority to retake all of the country from separatists and jihadist forces.
At the same time, the junta has broken off its military alliance with former colonial power France and turned to Russia for support.