Amnesty International on Tuesday urged the ruling junta to investigate the killing of eight civilians, including children, in drone strikes in northern Mali, where the army is battling a jihadist insurgency and separatists.
The rights group in a statement said witnesses reported that at least eight civilians, including six children, had been killed in air attacks on a busy market in the village of Inadiatafane, in the Timbuktu region, on October 21.
Another 15 people were wounded, with some in serious condition, it added.
"The victims were mainly people buying, selling or moving around. A four-month-old baby and a six-year-old girl were killed," Amnesty quoted an eyewitness as saying and that several others had died of their injuries.
Malian authorities did not respond to an AFP request for comment. The government defends itself against frequent accusations of blunders harming civilians.
"This strike should be investigated as a war crime, as the attack resulted in deaths and injuries among civilians and civilian objects were targeted," Amnesty said.
Drone strikes earlier this year left 13 civilians dead, among them seven children, on March 17 in the northern city of Amasrakadh near Gao, and killed 14 others including 11 children, on March 23 in central Douna, the group said.
The Malian army for more than a decade has been battling jihadists and separatists from various armed groups, with the centre of the country a hotbed of violence since 2015.
Abuses committed against civilians in remote areas and attributed to armed groups like Al-Qaeda and Islamic State group affiliates, but also militias and the army, take time to be reported and verified.
Mali's ruling military junta, led by Colonel Assimi Goita, tightly controls information about security incidents.
Goita had vowed to hold free elections that have been delayed indefinitely on the grounds that the West African country is too unstable from jihadist violence.