Fresh Mali Clashes As Soldiers' Bodies Found
By AFP
14:23 EST, 10 August 2016
Renewed fighting pitted former Mali rebels against pro-government fighters for a second day Wednesday, the government and UN said, while the army separately found the bodies of five missing soldiers.
Fighting erupted Tuesday near the restive northeastern town of Kidal between ex-rebels from the Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA) and members of the pro-government group GATIA.
The Malian government said in a statement that lives had been lost but gave no details and expressed "deep concern" over the clashes.
Ongoing international military intervention since January 2013 has driven Islamist fighters away from major population centres in Mali
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Ongoing international military intervention since January 2013 has driven Islamist fighters away from major population centres in Mali ©Souleymane Ag Anara (AFP/File)
It "condemns the resumption of hostilities", the statement said and called on the parties to stop, warning the situation was a "serious threat" to the implementation of a 2015 peace accord.
The two sides had clashed with heavy arms in Kidal itself on July 21-22, and again on July 30 around 40 kilometres (25 miles) to the east of the town, several sources said.
GATIA, the Imghad and Allies Tuareg Self-Defence Group, said in a statement that the violence was down to tribal differences between the Imghad and Ifoghas.
The CMA could not be reached for comment.
The clashes were confirmed to AFP by a source in MINUSMA, the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the west African country, which helps maintain calm in Kidal.
"We have information on fighting" under way near Kidal, said the source, giving no further details.
Meanwhile Mali's army said it had recovered the bodies of five soldiers missing since an attack Monday in the Mopti region in the centre of the country.
Four bodies were found Tuesday and a fifth on Wednesday morning, said an army spokesman. "At this stage we cannot specify the cause of death. Our experts are still examining the remains," he said.
Another military official told AFP overnight that the four bodies had been washed up by the river, and a probe was launched to determine "if they were killed and thrown into the river or if they died by drowning".
One military source blamed the attack on the soldiers on the Malian jihadist group Ansar Dine, which claimed a previous deadly attack against the army in the Mopti region on July 19, in which 17 soldiers died.
Ongoing international military intervention since January 2013 has driven Islamist fighters away from major population centres, but large tracts of the sub-Saharan country are still not controlled by Malian and foreign troops.
Jihadist groups early last year began to carry out attacks in central Mali as well as the north.
14:23 EST, 10 August 2016
Renewed fighting pitted former Mali rebels against pro-government fighters for a second day Wednesday, the government and UN said, while the army separately found the bodies of five missing soldiers.
Fighting erupted Tuesday near the restive northeastern town of Kidal between ex-rebels from the Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA) and members of the pro-government group GATIA.
The Malian government said in a statement that lives had been lost but gave no details and expressed "deep concern" over the clashes.
Ongoing international military intervention since January 2013 has driven Islamist fighters away from major population centres in Mali
+1
Ongoing international military intervention since January 2013 has driven Islamist fighters away from major population centres in Mali ©Souleymane Ag Anara (AFP/File)
It "condemns the resumption of hostilities", the statement said and called on the parties to stop, warning the situation was a "serious threat" to the implementation of a 2015 peace accord.
The two sides had clashed with heavy arms in Kidal itself on July 21-22, and again on July 30 around 40 kilometres (25 miles) to the east of the town, several sources said.
GATIA, the Imghad and Allies Tuareg Self-Defence Group, said in a statement that the violence was down to tribal differences between the Imghad and Ifoghas.
The CMA could not be reached for comment.
The clashes were confirmed to AFP by a source in MINUSMA, the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the west African country, which helps maintain calm in Kidal.
"We have information on fighting" under way near Kidal, said the source, giving no further details.
Meanwhile Mali's army said it had recovered the bodies of five soldiers missing since an attack Monday in the Mopti region in the centre of the country.
Four bodies were found Tuesday and a fifth on Wednesday morning, said an army spokesman. "At this stage we cannot specify the cause of death. Our experts are still examining the remains," he said.
Another military official told AFP overnight that the four bodies had been washed up by the river, and a probe was launched to determine "if they were killed and thrown into the river or if they died by drowning".
One military source blamed the attack on the soldiers on the Malian jihadist group Ansar Dine, which claimed a previous deadly attack against the army in the Mopti region on July 19, in which 17 soldiers died.
Ongoing international military intervention since January 2013 has driven Islamist fighters away from major population centres, but large tracts of the sub-Saharan country are still not controlled by Malian and foreign troops.
Jihadist groups early last year began to carry out attacks in central Mali as well as the north.
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