AT least 12 civilians were killed in northern Mali in an attack on a market that also involved the shooting of a Malian soldier, military sources said Sunday.

The attack took place Saturday in the town of Boulekessi near the border with Burkina Faso.

“Malian troops under the G5 Sahel command are at the center of this incident,” a military source from the joint force of soldiers from five Sahel countries said. “One of the soldiers had been attacked by an armed man at the market in Boulekessi. Afterwards, in circumstances not yet clear, at least 12 civilians at the site were killed,” the source said.

A Malian military source added that it was difficult to contact the region by phone and that an investigation was under way “to find out exactly how many civilians were killed and who shot the soldier.”

A former Malian minister, who comes from the region, said that witnesses had claimed the incident was due to military “blunders” and that “more than 15 civilians were killed.”

“According to two witnesses, an armed man shot a Malian soldier who is now fighting for his life,” the ex-minister said.

(SD-Agencies)