“A mine just exploded on the border between Mali and Mauritania. Three civilians were killed but we do not know if they are Malian or Mauritanian,” government official Moustapha Dante said.
This was confirmed by a Malian security source.
On Monday Mauritanian and Malian soldiers swept a forest area in north-west Mali on three days after a raid by the Mauritanian army on an Al-Qaeda base left 17 dead, including two soldiers, sources said.
The search operation in and around the Wagadou forest was a joint effort by the armies of neighbours Mali and Mauritania to flush out any remaining Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) members, Mauritanian sources said.
It came after a raid on Friday left the camp “completely destroyed”, according to the Mauritanian army, which reported the base had housed heavy weapons and posed “a real threat to our country.”
Witnesses interviewed by AFP from Bamako said several members of AQIM were leaving Wagadou forest and heading north toward the Sahara.
AQIM, Al-Qaeda’s branch in north Africa, has bases in northern Mali from where it carries out armed attacks and kidnappings in the Sahel desert region where the group is also involved in arms anddrugs trafficking.
Mali and Mauritania are among the countries hardest-hit by AQIM activities, along with Niger and Algeria, where the organisation has its roots. The nations work closely together in efforts to crack down on the organisation.