At least Malian soldiers killed, 20 wounded in clashes with rebels

Five Malian soldiers were killed and 20 others wounded in clashes with rebels in the north, the military said on Tuesday.

The clashes between the Malian armed forces and northern Tuareg rebels broke out Sunday in the town of Lere, in Timbuktu region near the Mauritanian border.

According to initial reports, a military statement said, five people were dead, 20 others injured and 11 were missing on the army side.

The army also said that seven rebels were killed and eight vehicles belonging to the rebel group were destroyed.

On Sunday, the rebels claimed that they shot down an army aircraft, took soldiers hostage and captured two army bases in Lere city.

But the army statement said its military remained mobilized to defend its positions and maintain the peace and security of the population.

It added that its aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing due to material damage.

Since August, the Malian army has been engaged in an offensive against a rebel group called the Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA), formed by semi-nomadic Tuareg people, as a UN peacekeeping mission started to withdraw from the country.