This is while Paris claims that the target of the attack was a gathering of armed extremists.

Axar.az reports citing foreign media that the accusation will further complicate international and local efforts to combat violent extremist groups in Mali, which have grown in strength in recent years. It is also likely to fuel anti-French sentiment in Mali, a former colony, the Daily Mail reported.

The UN investigation was launched after French warplanes struck a target on 3 January near the remote village of Bounti in the unstable central Mopti province.

French officials rejected reports from residents of the village that the strike had hit a wedding party and said “dozens of fighters” from Islamist groups were killed in an intelligence-led operation. However, investigators from the United Nations mission in Mali, known as Minusma, reviewed the evidence and interviewed more than 100 people, concluding that the reports of a wedding were accurate.