Mali’s government said it had killed a senior Tuareg rebel commander and other rebels in a drone strike on a town in the north of the country.
Tuareg factions had been meeting in Tinzaouaten this week to form a unified political and military structure.
“Several CSP cadres were killed, including the notorious Fahad Ag Almahmoud,” Chodi Ag, a mission manager at Mali’s communications ministry, said in a post on Facebook.
Separatist groups from northern Mali, largely dominated by ethnic Tuaregs, launched a rebellion against the government in 2012, which was later subsumed into an insurgency by Islamist groups linked to al Qaeda and the Islamic State.
A 2015 peace agreement between the government and rebels collapsed in July this year and triggered renewed fighting, including a fierce battle around Tinzaouaten that killed dozens of Malian soldiers and Russian Wagner mercenaries.
Almahmoud was a key member of the CSP alliance. He ensured coordination between its factions and represented them in discussions with authorities about the peace agreement.
A military source who did not wish to be identified said strikes on Tinzaouaten had killed Almahmoud and other “terrorist leaders.”
The army has not officially commented on the attack.
Multiple drone strikes since the July conflict have killed dozens of civilians in Tinzaouaten, including children, doctors, and residents.
