Rebels and army exchange fire in central Mali: military source

Bamako (AFP) - Malian soldiers and rebels exchanged fire in a central town near the border with Mauritania on Wednesday, a Malian military source told AFP.

"Groups of armed Tuareg rebels have been attacking us since 4:00 pm (1600 GMT). We are fighting back and defending our positions," a Malian army colonel told AFP from the scene of the exchange in Lere.

The source said the assailants, fighters from the main Tuareg rebel alliance known as the Coordination for the Movements of Azawad (CMA), had arrived in several vehicles from the west of the town.

"We are under fire. Everybody is hiding at home. The rebels are shooting, the Malian army too," a local councillor told AFP by telephone as gunshots rang out in the background.