Mali's government said on Sunday it had killed a senior Tuareg rebel commander and other rebels in a drone strike on a town in the north of the country.

A Reuters journalist in Tinzaouaten on the border with Algeria witnessed the strike on the town, which is under the control of a rebel coalition known as the Permanent Strategic Framework for the Defence of the People of Azawad (CSP-DPA).

“Several CSP cadres were killed, including the notorious Fahad Ag Almahmoud,” Chodi Ag, a mission manager at Mali's communications ministry, said on Facebook. Almahmoud, a commander widely known as Gatia, is a former member of a pro-government militia who defected to the separatists last year.

A military source who did not wish to be identified said strikes on Tinzaouaten had killed Almahmoud and other “terrorist leaders”.

The army has not officially commented on the attack.