Air Delivered event in Mali on Wed 16th September 2026

On 16 September 2026, the Malian army claimed to have conducted airstrikes on several hideouts of armed militants holding military equipment (likely JNIM and/or FLA, based on the presence of both militant groups in the area and previous similar operations against them in and around Kidal) in Kidal (Kidal, Kidal, Kidal) and around the city (coded separately). The army also claimed that the target was 'successfully neutralized' (likely meaning that they killed militants and destroyed equipment). On the same day, Malian fighter jets also conducted an airstrike on the house of a local merchant in the center of Kidal, killing 2 of the merchant's children, and injuring one woman, his wife. Other sources further stated that a Sukhoi Su-24 bomber, operated by Africa Corps, conducted two airstrikes in the city center and injured three people, including two girls and one woman. It remained unknown whether the airstrikes attributed to the army and to Africa Corps referred to the same incident. Fatalities coded as 5 (unspecified fatalities from the airstrike on armed militants claimed by the army coded as 3 + 2 civilians).