(Reuters) - A Tuareg-dominated rebel alliance in northern Mali accused Malian soldiers, accompanied by Russian Wagner mercenaries, of killing 24 civilians travelling north to Algeria from the city of Gao, as the army reported clashes in the region.
Mali, led by a military junta, has for more than a decade battled jihadist groups allied to Islamic State and al Qaeda while grappling with a much longer history of Tuareg-led rebellion in the north.
In a statement on Monday evening, the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) said the civilians were travelling in two vehicles, one of which was set on fire while the other escaped with some survivors.
Family members of three victims, as well as a spokesperson for the local human rights association Kal Akal, confirmed the incident to Reuters. One of the vehicles was transporting migrants, a family member of the driver said.
Separately, the FLA said Malian soldiers and Wagner fighters had killed four people on Sunday in the village of Aslagh in the Kidal region.
In a third incident, FLA fighters clashed with Malian soldiers and Wagner fighters between Anefis and Aguelhok in the Kidal region, leaving five FLA fighters dead, according to an FLA source.
A spokesperson for Mali's armed forces did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In a statement on Monday the armed forces said that a series of clashes had taken place west of Aguelhok and northwest of Anefis, killing seven "terrorists", the term it uses for FLA rebels. The statement also said the armed forces had targeted "a group of terrorists" using drones early on Monday in the same zone.
(Reporting by Abdollah Ag Mohamed; Additional reporting by Portia Crowe; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
