Malian soldier shot dead in restive north
2011-10-17 14:07
Bamako - Gunmen killed a Mali soldier in the north of the country Sunday, security sources said, the latest in a spate of violent attacks being blamed on fighters returning from neighbouring Libya.
"Armed men laid an ambush on Sunday, killed a member of Mali's regular army and stole the vehicle," a source said.
A source in the Mali administration confirmed the incident, naming the victim as sergeant Elkhalifa Ag Wantikane.
His death is the latest in a series of armed attacks in recent weeks in northern Mali which have coincided with the return from Libya of hundreds of former combatants from Mali who served in the forces of the ousted Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
More than 400 armed Malian Tuaregs arrived back from neighbouring Libya on Saturday aboard some 80 vehicles, leaving the fighting there as the active forces remaining loyal to Gaddafi dwindle.
The repatriation of hundreds of fighters is "a serious worry", UN special envoy to west Africa Said Djinnit told reporters on Friday. The men arrived "in confusion, with big re-entry problems, which has increased the insecurity in the north of Mali".
He added: "Heavy weapons, missiles, convoys of hundreds of vehicles, including technicals [armed 4x4s] circulating freely ... are commonplace. There are potential buyers for these weapons: Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb [and] drug rings."
Fuelling this concern, hundreds of the new arrivals immediately set off for the open desert, an aide to Malian army Colonel Aladji Gamou said, adding that this was "not a good sign".
They were members of two of the three Tuareg tribes in the lawless region - the Shamanamas and Iforas.
Mercenaries
The Malian government, together with local leaders, have set up basic infrastructures to facilitate the return of Malian Tuaregs, whose loyalty to Gaddafi stemmed from his onetime support for their rebellions.
Hundreds of other Tuareg fighters from Mali and Niger have crossed back into their home countries since the collapse of Gaddafi’s regime in August.
Most had gone to Libya in the 1990s, became part of the army, and granted Libyan nationality.
According to a security official and a support group, hundreds of Malian civilians have also returned recently, mainly to the region of Timbuktu.
Ould Mohamed of Stop Arms, an NGO that is active against the proliferation of arms in the Sahel, said he believed the returnees could also include mercenaries recruited at the beginning in mid-February of the rebellion against Gaddafi.
"We must rapidly find them something to do, so that they are not tempted by adventure," Ould Mohamed warned.
The general staff of Mali's army has ordered that former fighters who return with their weapons be "gently disarmed".