Date : 17 Jan 2025
The use of UAVs in Mali: between civilian victims and military strategy - West Africa Maps
On January 10, 2025, a Bayraktar Akıncı UAV reportedly crashed at Sévaré airport in Mali. For the Malian Armed Forces, UAVs have become essential in operations against armed groups. The use of this new weapon of war has already caused the death of many civilians.
The countries of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) have made a strategic reorientation. In response to the growing terrorist threat, and in order to limit its reliance on external actors, Mali has had to develop its military capabilities and diversify its equipment supply sources. With this in mind, the Malian government has developed its cooperation with Turkey.
Purchase of Bayraktar TB2 and Akinci UAVs in Mali
Back in 2020, it was reported that the Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) had acquired Turkish-made UAVs, notably the Bayraktar TB2. These are medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) tactical UAVs, designed for reconnaissance, surveillance and air strike missions. They can carry up to 150 kg of payload. Each unit costs between $2 and $4 million. The FAMa subsequently received several further deliveries of these UAVs in December 2022, March 2023 and January 2024.
Mali recently made a significant capability leap with the acquisition of Bayraktar Akinci UAVs in November 2024. These new-generation UAVs are high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) combat and reconnaissance drones. They are designed for surveillance, intelligence and precision air strike missions, with a high-intensity strike capability. They can carry up to 1,350 kg of payload. Each unit costs between $20 and $30 million.
The Turkish ambassador in Mali declared that “these aircraft have been supplied to Mali as part of the ongoing fight against international terrorism, which constitutes a threat to humanity. It is the collective responsibility of all peace- and stability-loving countries in the world to fight terrorism in all its forms”. Today, these drones play a central role in Malian military operations. Since their acquisition, Malian military operations have revolved around these UAVs. Mali is a vast territory, with desert and mountainous areas that are often inaccessible by land (1,241,238 square kilometers, the second largest in West Africa). They offer real-time surveillance and intelligence capabilities, as well as targeted air strikes. They can also carry guided munitions, enabling remote strikes against specific targets such as weapons caches, enemy positions or movements.
UAVs causing civilian deaths
The FAMa's use of drones has raised concerns about civilian collateral casualties. The large number of civilians killed is mainly the result of poor targeting. In some cases, errors of judgement lead to civilians being hit. It remains difficult to establish a precise toll of civilians killed by these strikes, as the FAMa very rarely acknowledge their inaccuracies.
The FAMa carried out its first drone strike on November 4, 2023 in Kidal, northern Mali. This strike targeted an abandoned camp of the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), where Tuareg insurgents had taken refuge. The aim of the Malian military was to take control of the town of Kidal, held by rebels from the Permanent Strategic Framework for Peace, Security and Development (CSP-PSD) coalition.
On December 1, 2024, the day after the creation of the Azawad Liberation Front (Front de libération de l'Azawad - FLA) in northern Mali, the FAMa carried out drone strikes near Tinzaouatène, a few kilometers from the border with Algeria. The strike left eight Tuareg independence leaders dead, including five leaders of the new movement. Among the victims was Fahad Ag Almahmoud, former Secretary General of the Imghad and Allied Tuareg Self-Defense Group (Gatia), as well as two leaders of the former National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad and the High Council for the Unity of Azawad, as announced by the FLA in a press release.
On July 30, 2024, FAMa drones targeted Tinzaouatène.In a press release, the Malian army claims, “in coordination with the Armed Forces of Burkina Faso”, to have “begun this Tuesday, July 30, 2024, an air operation in the Tinzaouatène sector”.
These strikes killed at least 6 civilians. A spokesman for the pro-independence Permanent Strategic Framework (CSP) said that “drone fire by the Malian army accompanied by (its Russian allies) Wagner targeted civilians”. Also in Tinzaouatène, on August 26, 2024, 21 people were killed by further drone strikes. The FAMa claim to have targeted terrorists and not civilians, as the CSP asserts. The group accuses the Malian army of killing 21 civilians, including 11 children.
On March 17, 2024, the FAMa carried out 2 drone strikes in Amasrakad, in the Gao region. In their communiqué, the Malian military claimed to have “neutralized several terrorists and destroyed a large quantity of war equipment”. However, according to Amnesty International, the strikes killed at least 13 civilians, including seven children aged between 2 and 17, and wounded more than a dozen others. One survivor said: “My wife and six of my children were there and they were all killed by the strike. The other victims were friends and acquaintances who were simply looking for shelter in the house”. A few days later, on March 23, 2024, a drone strike targeted a Koranic school in the village of Douna. The strike killed 14 civilians, including 10 children, and wounded more than a dozen others.
In light of the large number of civilians killed by drone strikes in Mali, Amnesty International is calling on the FAMa to “make public information on the use and impact of armed drones, including the number of armed drone strikes, broken down by location, and the number of civilians and combatants killed or wounded as a result of these strikes, as well as the criteria used to distinguish between these two categories.”.
At the official handover ceremony for Bayraktar TB2 UAVs on January 4, 2024, Assimi Goïta, President of the Transition of Mali, said that these military aircraft make it possible to “monitor the national territory, detect suspicious targets, track them down and strike them if necessary with surgical precision”. While these drones play a central role in today's fight against terrorism in Mali, it cannot be denied that, on the ground, civilian collateral damage is on the rise. As for investigations to establish who was responsible, they are rare, and many human rights institutions are up in arms.