Military camps seized in Mali

2006-05-23 22:55

Bamako - Dozens of former Tuareg rebels seized two military camps in northeastern Mali in lightning raids early on Tuesday, said witnesses and military sources.

Military sources said that a group of several dozen assailants, later identified as members of the Tuareg community of the Sahara, swooped on Aboulaye Soumare camp, one of two in the Kidal region, about 06:00.

An officer who witnessed the attack said that dozens of 20 Malian soldiers were in the camp near the town of Kidal at the time, and that about 20 were still being held captive afterwards.

'Turbaned' men seize second camp

He reported small-arms fire "before, during and after" the base was seized.

The witnesses said that "turbaned" men seized the second camp, southeast of Kidal, two hours later. In both cases they looted the weapons stores.

It was not immediately clear if there were any victims. Military sources said the attackers were renegade former members of a Tuareg rebel movement that was active in the first half of the 1990s.

Most of these rebels later joined the Malian army under a social and military integration plan, but some had since deserted.

One of them, Lieutenant-Colonel Hassan Fagaga, quit in February, demanding better conditions for the region and the former rebels, but returned in March after promises that he would not be prosecuted and that his demands would be studied.

- AFP