Drone strikes kill 14 people near evacuated UN base in Mali

Описание: At least 14 people were killed near the northern town of Kidal during a series of drone strikes by the Malian Armed Forces (FAMa). According to AP, eyewitnesses say during the first drone strike on Tuesday, November 7, 2023, some of the victims were children gathered in front of a base vacated by the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) last Tuesday. The second strike landed near an auction site. As per AP, the deputy mayor of Kidal and a local council member were reported among the victims. The Permanent Strategic Framework (CSP), a Tuareg-dominated alliance of armed groups, took control of Kidal base last Tuesday without a fight after MINUSMA forces left in haste amid a deteriorating security situation. According to Actu Niger, the Malian junta took exception to MINUSMA’s hasty departure without turning over the base to the FAMa because it “deviates from the rules agreed between the two parties.” Kidal is the eighth of thirteen bases in central and northern Mali vacated by MINUSMA and is one of the most important, as it is in a region historically controlled by Tuareg rebels. Kidal was the third and last base in the Kidal Region evacuated by MINUSMA; the first two were in Tessalit and Aguelhok. Like Kidal, Aguelhok was not handed over by MINUSMA to the FAMa upon departure. In June, the Malian junta requested MINUSMA to leave the country by year’s end due to its failure to bring peace and security to Mali since its inception in 2013. To date, 6,000 of the 13,000 MINUSMA peacekeepers have redeployed.