Mali drone hit takes out key rebel chief near Algerian border

Maliʼs forces hit rebel-held Tinzaouaten with a drone-strike killing Fahad Ag Almahmoud and other rebel leaders (a Reuters reporter saw the attack first-hand)

The strike targeted a meeting where Tuareg groups tried to make a new joint military-political structure: the attack happened in this north Mali town that sits right on Algeriaʼs border

The hit comes after a failed peace-deal from 2015; which fell apart bout 5 months ago. The original conflict started round 12 years ago when Tuareg people in northern Mali started fighting the govt - but then al Qaeda and Islamic State linked groups joined in making things worse

Almahmoud was a big-shot in the CSP-DPA group; he worked on talking to govt and keeping different rebel parts together. A military source who dont want their name known said the strike got him and other “terrorist leaders“ but the army hasnt said anything official yet

Multiple air-strikes have been happening since 07/2024 in this area: doctors say these hits killed many regular people (including kids). The worst fighting was near Tinzaouaten where lots of Mali soldiers and Russian Wagner fighters got killed