At least eight people , including children, were killed and 20 wounded in a drone attack on a fair in the Timbuktu region of northern Mali, Tuareg rebels said last night, quoted by Reuters and BTA.
The rebel coalition known as the Standing Strategic Framework for the Protection of the People of Azawad said in a statement that a Turkish drone had carried out several strikes on a local market and civilian homes. The coalition blamed Mali's army and its allies for the attack.
The armed forces of Mali have so far not given an official comment on the case, notes Reuters.
The Tuareg are an ethnic group that inhabits the Sahara region, including parts of northern Mali, and have been fighting for an independent state for years.
The separatist group launched an insurgency against Mali's junta government in 2012, but Islamist groups have taken advantage of the conflict.
In 2015, the separatists signed a peace agreement with Bamako, but the Permanent Strategic Framework for the Protection of the People of Azawad withdrew from negotiations at the end of 2022.
In July 2023, rebels attacked a convoy of Malian soldiers and mercenaries from the Russian Wagner Group, claiming to have killed 84 Russians and 47 Malian soldiers.