Bamako: Mali faced up to the most deadly attack in years by armed Tuareg rebels, after clashes left 32 dead in a new test of the government's control of the northern frontier region with Algeria.

Tuareg rebels attacked army positions in Mali s far northeast on Wednesday. The clashes at Abeibara left 15 government soldiers dead and six wounded while 17 rebel fighters were killed and 25 injured, Malian army spokesman, Colonel Abdoulaye Coulibaly told AFP yesterday.

Earlier the ministry of defence had put the death toll at 27.

Abeibara lies 150 kilometres north of Kidal, the main town of the frontier region bordering Algeria.

According to sources close to the rebels, the attackers came in about 40 off-road vehicles and fought for several hours before fleeing ahead of the arrival of government reinforcements from Kidal.

Attacks, kidnappings, and armed clashes have multiplied in recent months in the Kidal region, where drug trafficking and cigarette smuggling is rife on this transit point for sub-Saharan immigrants trying to reach Europe.

Despite a 2006 peace pact between the Malian government and Tuareg rebels in the impoverished nation on the southern edge of the Sahara, there have been several attacks on army posts by armed Tuareg bands in recent weeks.

A Tuareg source told AFP earlier that the attack on Wednesday was staged to avenge the death of rebel leader Barka Cheik, whose body was found in northern Mali in April.

Like many former Tuareg rebels, Barka Cheik was integrated into the Malian army after signing a peace agreement. His unsolved murder sparked unrest among the Tuareg rebels now serving in the army.

Source : PTI