Video provided to AFP by a witness shows an aircraft descending at high speed before crashing in a plume of smoke.

In a brief statement on social media, the military confirmed a plane had crashed near Gao airport at around 9:30 am "on its way back from a mission to support the civilian population".

The statement said it was a Sukhoi Su-25, but the military official previously identified the plane as an Albatros, a Soviet-era Czechoslovakian-built model.

Both were among the equipment Russia delivered to the Malian army in August.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the aircraft was one of the Malian army's "new acquisitions".

Mali's ruling junta, which seized power in August 2020, has turned away from the country's traditional ally France and towards Russia.

The Kremlin's support has included large numbers of ground operatives, who Mali describes as military trainers but who western countries say are paramilitaries with the private organisation Wagner, as well as combat aircraft and helicopters.

Mali has faced a jihadist insurgency since 2012. Violence that began in the north of the country has spread to central and southern Mali, as well as to neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.