Troops arrest leader of Islamist group linked to deadly attacks

Dimeji Akinloye 01:13 - 27 July 2016

UN peacekeepers stand guard in the northern town of Kouroume, Mali, May 13, 2015. Kourome is 18 km (11 miles) south of Timbuktu. REUTERS/Adama Diarra

"He is close to Lyad Ag Ghali, the chief of Ansar Dine," Traore said, adding that Barry had also planned an attack on the town of Nara that killed 12 people.

Malian forces arrested a regional leader of Islamist group

Ansar Dine laid claim to the attack last week by gunmen who fired on troop positions, burned buildings and pillaged shops, killing 17 Malian soldiers and wounded 35 on an army base in the central town of Nampala last week.

Army spokesman Modibo Naman Traore said the state security services arrested the commander, Mahmoud Barry - nicknamed "Abou Yehiya" - as he was travelling on a road between Nampala and the town of Dogofri.

French forces intervened in 2013 to push back Islamist fighters who had hijacked a Tuareg uprising to take over northern Mali. But despite 11,000 United Nations peacekeepers deployed in the country since, insecurity has worsened and militants still launch frequent attacks across the vast desert country and its neighbours.

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