Mali: military drone strikes kill eight senior Tuareg leaders in country’s north

Eight Tuareg rebel leaders have reportedly been killed by drone strikes on a town in Mali’s north that was carried out by the country’s military regime at a time when the Tuareg factions were discussing how to form a united military and political structure.

“Several synchronized drone strikes martyred some Azawad leaders on 1 December 2024, in Tinzaouatine, near the Algerian border,” spokesman to Strategic Framework for the Defense of the People of Azawad (CSP-DPA) said in a statement. Azawad is the Tuareg name for their territory in northern Mali from where the Tuareg tribes have been fighting against Mali’s central government to realize their dream of an independent state, separated from Mali. The successful “special operation” that led to the killing of several senior rebel leaders, described as “terrorists” was also confirmed by the General Staff of the Malian armed forces on Sunday (1 December).

After the collapse of the Gaddafi regime in Libya in 2011, Tuaregs who had been part of Gaddafi’s mercenary army returned to northern Mali with sophisticated weaponry where they formed the National Movement for Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) as the political-military platform to start a rebellion against Mali’s central government with the aim of achieving self-rule. A 2015 peace deal between the junta-led government and rebels collapsed in July this year and triggered renewed fighting, including a fierce battle around Tinzaouatine that killed dozens of Malian soldiers and Russian Wagner mercenaries. The latest attack was the first time since the start of the rebellion that so many Taureg leaders were killed in a single attack.