Suspected jihadists on motorcycles have killed at least 42 people during a series of attacks on Tuareg nomadic camps in Mali, local leaders said Thursday.

Moussa Ag Acharatoumane, a Tuareg self-defence official, said the attacks took place Tuesday and Wednesday in the sprawling West African nation's eastern Menaka region. The victims, who included children as young as eight, were members of his group known as MSA, which has been fighting militants with ties to the Islamic State group who are active in the region.

This week's violence risks setting off a new cycle of intercommunal clashes in the Menaka region, where 100 civilians have already been killed this year. In September, similar motorcycle gangs attacked a nomadic community near Mali's border with Niger, killing at least 12 civilians.

Canadian troops

Canada currently has about 250 personnel deployed in the region of Gao, about 300 km from where the latest attacks took place. About 10 Canadian Forces staff are also stationed in the capital Bamako.

Canadian troops arrive at a UN base in Gao, Mali, on June 25. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)

Planned attacks thwarted

Meanwhile, Malian authorities said Thursday they had arrested four men accused of planning attacks before the end of the year in several major West African capitals. Malian intelligence services said the men "were preparing to carry out attacks on certain sensitive targets" in the cities of Abidjan in Ivory Coast, Bamako in Mali and Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso.

The statement implicated the men in March attacks in Ouagadougou and said their group had become "a recruitment operation" for Islamic-inspired militants.

The intelligence services also said a preliminary investigation "proved that the four terrorists also participated in the kidnapping of Colombian nun Sister Gloria Cecilia Narvaez" who was abducted in February 2017.</s>Tuareg leader: Suspected jihadists on motorcycles kill at least 42 in Mali's eastern Menaka region

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Tuareg leader: Suspected jihadists on motorcycles kill at least 42 in Mali's eastern Menaka region.</s>BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Tuareg leader: Suspected jihadists on motorcycles kill at least 42 in Mali’s eastern Menaka region.</s>BAMAKO, Mali — A Tuareg leader says suspected jihadists on motorcycles have killed at least 42 people in Mali's eastern Menaka region during a series of attacks on their nomadic camps.

Moussa Ag Acharatoumane of the Tuareg self-defense group said Thursday that children as young as eight were among the victims of the attacks Tuesday and Wednesday. The region in the sprawling West African nation is home to a number of extremist groups, including those with links to Islamic State militants.

Meanwhile, authorities say at least four suspected jihadists were arrested last week by Malian special forces. They say the men were preparing to carry out attacks in the cities of Abidjan in Ivory Coast, Bamako in Mali and Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso at the end of the year.</s>BAMAKO, Mali — Tuareg leader: Suspected jihadists on motorcycles kill at least 42 in Mali’s eastern Menaka region.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>BAMAKO, Mali (AP) - Suspected jihadists on motorcycles have killed at least 42 people during a series of attacks on Tuareg nomadic camps in Mali, local leaders said Thursday.

Moussa Ag Acharatoumane, a Tuareg self-defense official, said the attacks took place Tuesday and Wednesday in the sprawling West African nation's eastern Menaka region. The victims, who included children as young as eight, were members of his group known as MSA, which has been fighting militants with ties to the Islamic State group who are active in the region.

This week's violence risks setting off a new cycle of intercommunal clashes in the Menaka region, where 100 civilians have already been killed this year. In September, similar motorcycle gangs attacked a nomadic community near Mali's border with Niger, killing at least 12 civilians.

Meanwhile, Malian authorities said Thursday they had arrested four men accused of planning attacks before the end of the year in several major West African capitals. Malian intelligence services said the men "were preparing to carry out attacks on certain sensitive targets" in the cities of Abidjan in Ivory Coast, Bamako in Mali and Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso.

The statement implicated the men in March attacks in Ouagadougou and said their group had become "a recruitment operation" for Islamic-inspired militants.

The intelligence services also said a preliminary investigation "proved that the four terrorists also participated in the kidnapping of Colombian nun Sister Gloria Cecilia Narvaez" who was abducted in February 2017.</s>The Western Journal has not reviewed this Associated Press story prior to publication. Therefore, it may contain editorial bias or may in some other way not meet our normal editorial standards. It is provided to our readers as a service from The Western Journal.

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Suspected jihadists on motorcycles have killed at least 42 people during a series of attacks on Tuareg nomadic camps in Mali, local leaders said Thursday.

Moussa Ag Acharatoumane, a Tuareg self-defense official, said the attacks took place Tuesday and Wednesday in the sprawling West African nation’s eastern Menaka region. The victims, who included children as young as eight, were members of his group known as MSA, which has been fighting militants with ties to the Islamic State group who are active in the region.

This week’s violence risks setting off a new cycle of intercommunal clashes in the Menaka region, where 100 civilians have already been killed this year. In September, similar motorcycle gangs attacked a nomadic community near Mali’s border with Niger, killing at least 12 civilians.

Meanwhile, Malian authorities said Thursday they had arrested four men accused of planning attacks before the end of the year in several major West African capitals. Malian intelligence services said the men “were preparing to carry out attacks on certain sensitive targets” in the cities of Abidjan in Ivory Coast, Bamako in Mali and Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso.

The statement implicated the men in March attacks in Ouagadougou and said their group had become “a recruitment operation” for Islamic-inspired militants.

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The intelligence services also said a preliminary investigation “proved that the four terrorists also participated in the kidnapping of Colombian nun Sister Gloria Cecilia Narvaez” who was abducted in February 2017.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.</s>Moussa Ag Acharatoumane, a Tuareg self-defense official, said the attacks took place Tuesday and Wednesday in the sprawling West African nation's eastern Menaka region. The victims, who included children as young as eight, were members of his group known as MSA, which has been fighting militants with ties to the Islamic State group who are active in the region.</s>To read this article in one of Houston's most-spoken languages, click on the button below.</s>BAMAKO - Gunmen on motorbikes have killed more than 40 Tuareg civilians this week in north Mali, where clashes over land and scarce water are common, an official said on Thursday.

The violence compounds an already dire security situation in the desert region used by jihadist groups to launch attacks in Mali and across West Africa.

The identity of the assailants was unknown, but disputes between the nomadic Tuareg and herder Fulani ethnic groups have killed several hundred and displaced thousands this year.

Menaka town mayor Nanout Kotia told Reuters 43 Tuareg died in a village 20km away over the past two days.

“Armed men riding motorbikes attacked several nomadic campsites in Tinabaw. They shot indiscriminately at the population,” Kotia told Reuters, saying security forces had been sent to the area.

Mali’s main Tuareg separatist group, the Coordination of Azawad Movements, said 47 Tuareg civilians were killed in the Tinabaw area. Nobody has claimed responsibility.

Mali has been in turmoil since Tuareg rebels and loosely allied Islamists took over its north in 2012, prompting French forces to intervene to push them back the following year.

They have since regained a foothold in the north and centre, tapping into ethnic rivalries to recruit new members.
Jihadists on motorcycles kill around 42 people in a series of attacks targeting Tuareg camps in Mali.