Mali's army carried out overnight airstrikes on the northern town of Kidal, which has been under the control of Tuareg-led separatists and their terrorist allies since a large-scale offensive last month, the army and witnesses said Thursday.

"We are targeting specific targets. We have our strategy. In the coming days, the strikes will intensify," an officer at the official command post of the army in the central town of Mopti told AFP.

At least four airstrikes were carried out in the night and caused damage, a witness in Kidal said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

A house near an old market was destroyed and another airstrike left a crater inside the vast courtyard of the governor's office in Kidal, the witness said.

The strategic town in Mali's desert north was unusually quiet early on Thursday with little traffic on the roads, the witness added.

The deadly offensive by terrorists and Tuareg-led separatists on April 25 and 26 targeted strategic towns and killed the country's influential defence minister.

Kidal and other towns and villages in the north were captured and are now controlled by the separatists and the terrorists.