/ 19 October 1999

30 KILLED IN MALI FIGHTING

AT least 30 people were killed and ten others seriously injured in inter-tribal fighting in northern Mali on Sunday, according to a military source. The violence, which lasted six hours, occurred in a desert zone between Gao and Kidal, where armed members of the two communities, one Arab the other Kunta Muslim hermits, the source said. The groups clashed over the division of territory and leadership in the area. A unit of the Malian army was sent to the area to restore order and address grievances on both sides. The death toll could rise to 40, with most of the casualties on the Kunta side, the source said.