SECURITY and other sources yesterday reported a fresh unrest in the West African country of Mali a day after Tuareg rebels and former soldiers from Libya tried to seize a town there.

The fighters reportedly attacked the northern Mali town of Aguelhok yesterday, some 140 kilometres north of Kidal with heavy weapons, Reuters quoted a northern Mali source in contact with the town as saying.

It was not immediately clear whether the attackers were linked to the same group of Tuaregs and Libyan former soldiers who the Defence Ministry said were responsible for Tuesday’s attack on the town of Menaka 400 km south of Kidal.

Tuareg nomads, who have fought several rebellions for a sovereign homeland in the Sahara desert, are believed by Malian authorities to have received an influx of weapons and men in the aftermath of Libya’s war. Their last rebellion ended in 2009.

Clashes in Menaka on Tuesday left at least one Malian soldier and several assailants dead, the government said. It was not clear yesterday whether full control of the town had been established.