Mali’s long running Tuareg crisis flared up again last week as helicopters from the Malian air force were called into action against Tuareg rebel positions in the town of Kidal. The fighting was said to have stemmed from the Malian government accusing rebels loyal to Tuareg leader Ag Bahanga of laying land mines preventing a Malian army convoy from travelling to the north eastern city of Kidal.

The government responded by sending government Mi-24 attack helicopters to raid Tuareg rebel positions in Kidal on Thursday. Independent sources said the attack left over 62 people dead.

Mali’s Tuareg crisis began in the 1990’s over calls for more political and economic freedom by the Tuaregs who are mainly found in the north eastern regions of Mali (Gao, Kidal and Timbuktu). Tuareg rebels reportedly armed by Libya staged a number of attacks against government and civilians targets in the 1990’s.

Since then several ceasefires have been signed the latest being the Algerian 2005 accord in which the rebels agreed to stop operating in return for autonomy and improved development in the northern regions of Kidal, Gao and Timbuktu.

Ag Bahanga’s group however denounced the accord as not going far enough and vowed to continue to resist the Malian government leading to last Thursday’s confrontation.