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Fresh skirmishes between rival militias in Mali

By AFP
Mali Rebels and pro-government fighters have clashed in Mali in over a month of bloodshed.  By Kenzo Tribouillard AFPFile
FEB 4, 2015 LISTEN
Rebels and pro-government fighters have clashed in Mali in over a month of bloodshed. By Kenzo Tribouillard (AFP/File)

Bamako (AFP) - Fresh violence erupted between rebels and pro-government fighters in restive northern Mali on Wednesday, army sources said, the latest clashes in more than a month of bloodshed.

The two sides exchanged fire near Tabankort, a powder-keg town beneath the Ifoghas mountains which straddle the border with Algeria, a source from MINUSMA, the United Nations' peacekeeping force, told AFP.

"Pro-government armed groups took control of the town of Tabricha, 15 kilometres (nine miles) from Tabankort," said the source, without being able to reveal a toll of deaths and injuries.

Both sides confirmed Wednesday's clashes, each claiming to have "taken the upper hand".

Tabankort is part of a large swathe of desert which is the cradle of a Tuareg separatist movement that wants independence for the homeland it calls "Azawad", and from which several rebellions have been launched since the 1960s.

The town, between the cities of Gao and Kidal, is controlled by pro-government militias, however, which have clashed over the last month with armed rebels, leading to the deaths of fighters and civilians.

Around a dozen people were killed last week when a pro-government armed group, including suicide bombers, launched an attack on rebel fighters in Tabankort.

A separate MINUSMA source said on Wednesday a Malian army vehicle hit a landmine near the caravan city of Timbuktu, again without being able to say if there had been deaths or injuries.

"The terrorists crossed the Niger river by canoe. They arrived in the area of Didi village and then rode a few kilometres by motorbike before placing the mine on which a Malian army vehicle drove," the source said.

The Malian army confirmed one of its trucks had exploded on a mine, without giving further details.

Meanwhile a separate military source told AFP military police had repelled an attack on Monday by unidentified "terrorists" on their station in the western town of Dogofiry, on the border with Mauritania.

Mali gained independence from France in 1960 but ethnic divisions run deep and the west African nation has been riven by conflict for much of the last half-century.

Algeria and the UN, which are leading mediation talks between the government and rebels, fear the violence in the north will jeopardise the peace process.

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