At least 21 people, including 11 children were killed in drone strikes on Sunday in the town of Tinzaouaten, situated in northern Mali, close to the border with Algeria. Having said so, the strikes, having targeted pharmacy and civilian’ groups, have claimed dozens of lives and led to severe material losses.
The attack is a follow-up to a ferocious clash in July when Tuareg and Islamist militants killed several Malian soldiers and Russian Wagner mercenaries in Tinzaouaten. Due to these losses, Mali has been conducting airstrikes against insurgent targets in the area and Sunday’s drone strikes are the continuation of such operations.
One of the representatives of the rebels – the Strategic Framework for the Defence of the People of Azawad (CSP-DPA), a group of Tuareg nationalists, heavily criticized the attack, laying it on Mali’s army together with the Wagner mercenaries. The spokesperson also accused the Burkinabe neighboring responded the drone used in the attack. Nonetheless, there is no reaction to these allegations from Mali’s armed forces, Russian defense ministry, and military authorities of Burkina Faso.
The July fight near Tinzaouaten is seen as one of Wagner’s biggest losses since the Russian private military company began backing Mali’s junta two years ago. The Tuareg rebels mentioned in the firing having killed not less than 84 of the Wagner mercenaries and 47 Mali troops while an al Qaeda faction mentioned killing 50 of the mercenaries and 10 soldiers. As for the losses, the official bodies of the parties have not disclosed information on their losses, although the Wagner group said the losses were severe.
The north of Mali continues to be insecure owing to the ongoing activities of Tuareg secessionists and jihadist groups affiliated with al Qaeda and Islamic State. Gao was at the center of the jihadist insurgency that has been a problem in Mali since 2012 when Islamist groups took over a Tuareg rebellion. It has been noted that since 2020 coups have been occurring in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger due to the inability of the authorities to provide security in the region.