Tuareg rebels who control the region of Kidal in northern Mali said that al-Qaida-linked extremists from the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa attacked their fighters in a village. No casualties were immediately reported.

Ibrahim Ag Mohamed Assaleh, a member of the Tuareg-led National Movement for the Liberation of the Azawad, said in Burkina Faso the attack occurred Friday afternoon in the village of Anefis, located around 110 kilometers (70 miles) southeast of Kidal. He said the French air force scrambled planes overhead to try to neutralize the MUJAO fighters.

The attack was confirmed by officials in the city of Kidal and by family members of residents of Anefis based in Mali's capital of Bamako. The family members received phone calls from their relatives in the besieged town.