The Malian army has announced it is investigating allegations that soldiers have carried out arbitrary killings in the Islamist-controlled north and some part of the capital Bamako.
The Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights FIDH accused Malian troops of killing Arabs and ethnic Tuaregs in some parts of the country yesterday.
Some of the alleged killings were carried out in the town of Mopti which is strategically important because it has a large military airport nearby, one of only a few in Mali capable of taking large transport planes.
Reports have suggested that mainly black African Malian troops, drawn largely from the south, are targeting Arabs and ethnic Tuaregs in frontline towns.
In the garrison town of Sevare, at least seven people were executed at a military camp, near a bus station and a hospital, the organization said.
There was credible information pointing to 20 other executions in Sevare, with bodies buried hastily, notably in wells, according to the rights group in Paris.
Some of the victims were accused of possessing weapons, and of being infiltrators and accomplices of the militants, others too were killed because they did not have identity documents or simply because of their ethnicity, FIDH alleged yesterday.
The United Nations refugee agency also announced that some 7,100 civilians had fled to neighbouring countries since 10 January to escape fighting.
Mali Conflict: Division in Islamist fighters
Meanwhile, latest development from northern Mali has it that one of the main groups fighting in northern Mali said it had split and wanted dialogue with the government.
The Islamic Movement for Azawad (IMA) announced on Thursday that it was breaking away from Ansar Dine, and rejected all forms of extremism and terrorism.
It said the group was made up entirely of Malians, who wanted a peaceful resolution to the crisis but it is unclear what the government will do with this latest development from the Islamist fighters.
Issaka Adams / NationalTurk Africa News
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