"Russian mercenaries and the Malian army shelled the Kidal governor's office and the youth centre," an official of the Tuareg-dominated Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) told AFP.

The strikes were conducted "with the help of a drone", the official said.

"There was no victim among us or among the local population," they added.

A Kidal resident contacted by AFP also said the governor's office and youth centre were targeted by drones on Thursday and Friday.

"There are no deaths but the buildings have been destroyed," the resident added.

A Malian military source confirmed that the army had carried out "air operations".

"We learned from reliable sources that the terrorists were holding meetings at the governor's office, at the treasury and in a camp in Kidal," the source added.

The coordinated deadly offensive by Al-Qaeda-linked jihadists and Tuareg separatists on April 25 and 26 targeted strategic towns and killed the country's influential defence minister.

The fall of Kidal, a strategic town in Mali's desert north and an independence stronghold, was a particular blow for the ruling junta, which seized power in 2020 promising to restore the country's territorial integrity.