MALI: Suspected rebel fighters kill dozens of Tuaregs

Suspected rebel fighters in Mali have killed dozens of people belonging to the ethnic Tuareg community in two attacks near the country’s border with Niger, according to local sources. Daouda Maiga, governor of Menaka region, said that motorbike-riding gunmen staged the attacks in the remote north-eastern villages of Awakassa on Friday and in Anderanboucane, a […]

Suspected rebel fighters in Mali have killed dozens of people belonging to the ethnic Tuareg community in two attacks near the country’s border with Niger, according to local sources.

Daouda Maiga, governor of Menaka region, said that motorbike-riding gunmen staged the attacks in the remote north-eastern villages of Awakassa on Friday and in Anderanboucane, a day earlier.

He said Fulani members of Islamic State Greater Sahara likely attacked in retaliation for military actions supported by Tuareg in the region bordering Niger, The Associated Press news agency reported.

In recent months, Tuareg civilian defence groups, supported by French soldiers, have fought against al-Qaeda-linked fighters in northeastern Mali.

The attacks in the villages may also be an attempt to further exploit tensions between Tuareg and Fulani herdsmen.