Tuareg Rebels

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  Mali Hotel Siege: All 20 Indians in Building Evacuated, Says Government

  Gunmen went on a shooting rampage at the luxury Radisson Blu hotel in Mali's capital Bamako today, seizing 170 guests and staff in an ongoing hostage-taking, the hotel chain said. At least three hostages have been killed, said Mali's security ministry.

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  Mali's Tuareg Rebels Prepare to Sign Landmark Peace Deal

  Mali's Tuareg-led rebel alliance prepared today to sign a landmark deal to end years of unrest in a nation riven by ethnic divisions and in the grip of a jihadist insurgency.

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  Mali Rebels to Initial Peace Deal on Today

  Mali's Tuareg-led rebel alliance will Thursday initial a peace accord that was drawn up with the government to bring stability to the conflict-hit west African nation, Algerian mediators and the rebels said.

• Mali Rebels Meet in Algiers to Discuss Rejected Peace Deal

  Tuareg-led rebels from north Mali said on Thursday they are meeting with Algerian mediators in Algiers to discuss the terms of preliminary peace deal they rejected last month.

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  Mali Rebels Ask to Meet Mediators to Improve Peace Deal

  Mali's Tuareg-led rebels called Monday for a meeting with Algerian mediators to "improve" a proposed peace deal with the government in Bamako, describing the accord as a "good basis" for progress.

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  Mali Rebels Begin Talks to Mull Peace Deal

  Mali's Tuareg-led rebels met today in the northeast of the country to decide whether to sign a peace deal already accepted by the government and smaller armed groups, a participant told AFP.

• Suicide Blast Kills At least 5 People in North Mali: Sources

  A suicide attack in the disputed north Malian town of Tabankort killed at least five people overnight, according to two Tuareg rebel sources on Wednesday.

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  Suicide Blast Kills at Least 5 People in North Mali: Sources

  A suicide attack in the disputed north Malian town of Tabankort killed at least five people overnight, according to two Tuareg rebel sources on Wednesday.

• Dutch UN Attack Helicopters Strike Mali Rebels in North

  Dutch United Nations attack helicopters carried out air strikes on Tuareg rebel forces in northern Mali on Tuesday, the first such engagement by Dutch forces serving in the U.N. mission in Mali.

• Mali Peace Talks Postponed to September 1

  Peace talks between the Malian government and mainly Tuareg rebels will not resume until September 1 after both sides asked for more time to prepare, mediator Algeria said on Wednesday.

• UN Calls for Immediate End to Violence in Mali: Report

  UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon has urged the immediate cessation of the renewed violence in northern Mali, which threatens to destabilise the country again.

• Malian Army Flees Kidal Amid Rebel Fighting

  Malian soldiers retreated from the northern town of Kidal on Wednesday after heavy gunbattles with ethnic Tuareg separatists, a major setback for the army less than a year after its highly unpopular return to the rebel stronghold.

• Age-Old Tuareg Problem Looms Large as Mali Battles Rebels

  Mali's latest bloody battle with Tuareg separatist militants in the Sahara desert has reignited an age-old powder keg for a government struggling to keep the deeply-divided country together.

• Mali Sends 1,500 Troops to Retake Rebel Stronghold

  Mali has sent 1,500 troops to retake the rebel stronghold of Kidal, military sources said on Monday, after Tuareg separatists laid siege to local government offices, sparking a gun battle in which dozens of people were killed.

• Mali: Tuareg Rebels Take 30 Hostages in North

  Mali officials say separatist rebels killed eight soldiers, stormed a government building and took 30 people hostage in an assault on the northern city of Kidal.