A separatist group in Mali claims an airstrike on a market killed 18 civilians, while the army says it targeted militants. Conflicting accounts highlight ongoing violence amid Mali's struggle with insurgency and military rule.

A separatist group in Mali has reported that an airstrike on a market in the country's north resulted in the deaths of at least 18 people. Meanwhile, Mali's army has stated that its operation specifically targeted armed militants.

The Collective for the Defense of the Rights of the Azawad People, a faction within a Tuareg separatist coalition, claimed that the attack took place approximately 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Lerneb in the Timbuktu region. According to the group, seven additional individuals were injured in the airstrike, which occurred on Sunday. In a statement released late Monday, the group condemned the incident, describing it as a “barbaric act from another age.”

On the other hand, Mali’s army announced on X that it had conducted airstrikes on a “refuge” in the region, resulting in the deaths of 11 “terrorists.”

For over a decade, Mali and its neighboring countries, Burkina Faso and Niger, have been engaged in a prolonged battle against an insurgency led by armed groups, including factions affiliated with al-Qaida and the Islamic State group. In recent years, military coups have taken place in all three nations, leading their ruling juntas to expel French forces and seek security assistance from Russian mercenary groups instead.

Since coming to power in 2021, interim president Assimi Goita has faced significant challenges in curbing violence across Mali. Additionally, the Malian army has been accused of targeting civilians.

Just last month, the Front for the Liberation of Azawad, the coalition of Tuareg separatist groups, alleged that the Malian army, in coordination with Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group, “coldly executed” at least 24 people in northern Mali.

The conflicting accounts of the recent airstrike may stem from the possibility that the Malian military indiscriminately targeted militants in an area with a civilian population, according to Rida Lyammouri, a senior fellow at the Policy Center for the New South, a Moroccan think tank. Lyammouri noted that jihadi fighters are known to frequent markets to acquire supplies, which could have influenced the military's decision.

“The Malian army may have deemed the targets significant enough to accept a certain degree of civilian casualties, but these would not be the primary goal," Lyammouri explained.

He also suggested that both the Malian army and the separatists may have misrepresented the identities of those killed to serve their respective narratives. The military could frame the operation as a necessary counterterrorism effort, while the separatists might use the incident to support allegations of human rights violations and further their cause for greater autonomy or separation from the Malian state.