Malian President Amadou Toumani Toure, who lit the fire, said the destruction allowed “a new step towards peace” in the west African country.
“We will make every effort to ensure that the operation against the proliferation of small arms continues,” he said, overseeing a ceremony called “The flame of peace”.
In recent years members of a national commission against small arms proliferation have scoured the region of Kidal, a hotspot of the Tuareg rebellion, to collect rifles, pistols and sub machine guns.
“We take these weapons after an awareness campaign. In return we finance micro-projects to help people develop,” said committee member Lieutenant Colonel Abdoulaye Ag Hamadou.
Mali was hit by a Tuareg rebellion in the 1990’s and early 2000’s before a peace deal was signed in July 2006.
On Tuesday Toure ended a two day visit to Kidal where he launched a development programme focused on areas of safety, hydraulics and agriculture.
The president has often stated the need to develop the region where several al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQMI) units are active, to prevent the organisation from forging ties with the communities.
Source: news24