Tuareg rebels say Malian military drone strike killed more than 8 civilians

A drone attack in northern Mali’s Timbuktu region killed at least eight people, including children, and injured 20 others, Tuareg rebels claimed this week, according to Reuters. The Permanent Strategic Framework for the Defence of the People of Azawad (CSP-DPA), a Tuareg rebel coalition, claimed that Turkish drones targeted a local fair and nearby homes, blaming Mali’s army and its allies for the strike.

The Tuareg, an ethnic group in the Sahara, have sought independence in northern Mali, launching an insurgency in 2012, which was later overtaken by Islamist factions. Although a peace agreement was signed in 2015, the CSP-DPA withdrew from negotiations in 2022, resuming hostilities. In July, the CSP-DPA claimed responsibility for an ambush on a convoy of Malian and Russian Wagner forces, which reportedly killed 84 Russians and 47 Malian soldiers. Mali’s armed forces have not commented on the recent drone strike.