PARIS, France: Malian army on March 17 killed at least 13 civilians, including seven children aged between two and 17, in Amasrakad, Gao region, and left more than a dozen people injured in two night-time drone strikes, said Amnesty International on Wednesday.
The London-based rights group said a person had lost his wife and six of his children in the night-time air raid on the area of Amasrakad on March 17.
According to eyewitness accounts gathered by Amnesty International, the civilians were seeking shelter when they were killed by drone strike in town in Gao region. Victims include six siblings and their mother.
The Malian army later issued a communiqué to describe the strikes, as “having contributed to neutralizing many terrorists and some of their vehicles”. But this claim was refuted by the seven survivors and witnesses Amnesty International spoke to. An initial strike hit a Toyota Hilux, a second struck a flimsy makeshift shelter where local residents had sought refuge, killing nine people instantly, Amnesty International quoted Elghas*, who lost several relatives during the second strike, as having told them.
“I didn’t hear the first strike. I was still asleep, but the people in my house had rushed to a neighbouring family for protection. It was afterwards that one of my sons came back and woke me up and told me about the car that had been targeted by the first strike. I followed him to the other compound where people had taken refuge. The second strike hit when I reached the entrance to the compound. I froze and I could see the flames around the shelter. It took me a while to get into the compound and head for the victims. My wife and six of my children were sheltering there and they were all killed by the strike. The other victims were friends and acquaintances who were simply seeking protection in that compound.”
He told human rights groups that his wife and six children had taken refuge there and all died in the strike. Other victims were simply friends and acquaintances who sought protection in the area.
According to the AI report, the Mali government has increased its military operations against al-Qaeda, the Islamic State and former rebel groups since mid-2023. As part of this operation, the army regularly conducts drone strikes. In recent months, the intensification of military operations in Kidal and Gao regions has forced many people from neighboring regions to seek refuge in Amasrakad.
Witnesses and survivors told Amnesty International that another person died of his injuries while being treated in of Amasrakad. Two days after the drone attack, the woman who was injured in the attack found out that her unborn child had died.
The country has been under military rule since successive coups in 2020 and 2021, and the security situation has worsened due to a severe humanitarian and political crisis.
