14 Killed in Drone Strikes in Mali Amid Rekindled Violence Between Tuareg Rebels and Military

Victims include deputy mayor, councillor and children; Drone strikes occurred in former U.N. base vacated by peacekeepers; Renewed tension linked to 2015 peace agreement collapse.

A series of drone strikes in the town of Kidal, a rebel stronghold in northern Mali, resulted in the death of at least 14 people, including the town's deputy mayor and a local councillor.
Among the victims of the first drone strike were children who had gathered in front of the former U.N. peacekeeping camp, which was vacated one week prior to the strikes.
The Malian army, which has not commented on the attacks, had announced a few days earlier that it was using drones to target terrorist positions in the former U.N. base in Kidal.
The drone strikes have paralleled a resurge in violence between the ethnic Tuareg rebels and Mali’s military, which was significant enough to expedite the planned departure of U.N. peacekeepers initially slated for mid-November.
Many analysts are attributing the renewed violence to the breakdown of a 2015 peace agreement between the government and the rebels. This agreement was implemented after the Tuareg rebels pushed security forces out of northern Mali in 2012 in their bid to establish an independent state called Azawad.