The United Nations peacekeeping force in Mali has deployed two units to the African country’s tri-border area with Burkina Faso and Niger to respond to a spate of civilian killings.
According to reports, a surge in attacks since early March by an Islamic State affiliate has left hundreds of civilians dead.
Civilians have been targeted during a cycle of reprisal attacks between ethnic Tuareg militia groups, including the Movement for the Salvation of Azawad,, and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara.
Military sources said at least five hundred civilians have been killed in the last three weeks in the regions of Gao and Menaka.
