Ahmad 
Armed clashes have reportedly broken out near the northern border with Algeria, where the Malian army has been confronting separatist groups led by the Azawad Movement.
These clashes come in the context of a new military campaign launched by the army on Wednesday against the border town of Tinzawaten.
A military source told AFP that the armed forces are continuing their efforts to secure the national territory, while a witness described the security situation as having begun with the spread of rumors of army attacks, which prompted many civilians to seek refuge in Algeria, and with the hearing of gunfire, “we confirmed that the army is clashing with separatist militants.”
The separatist groups, dominated by Tuareg tribes, lost control of several areas in northern Mali at the end of last year following a major military operation launched by the army, which culminated in the control of the city of Kidal, the traditional stronghold of the separatists.
The separatist movement is active in the Azawad region in northern Mali and seeks the independence of this region from the state of Mali and is made up of several factions and tribes demanding the right to self-determination.
The people of Azawad feel that they have a cultural and linguistic identity different from the rest of the population of Mali, and that they are subjected to economic exploitation by the central government, as the natural resources of the region are extracted without any benefit to them.
Commemoration of the French massacre of May 8, 1945, in Algeria