Armed men from the ethnic Peul community have massacred at least 30 Tuaregs in a revenge attack in northern Mali, officials have said.
The attack occurred Thursday in Tamkoutat, 80 kilometres (50 miles) north of the city of Gao, according to a local elected lawmaker who said it was "to retaliate against the kidnapping" of one of the Peul.
The Malian government denounced what it called "terrorist acts".
"A dozen armed individuals cold-bloodedly slaughtered around 30 merchants on board two vehicles, one of which was torched and the other taken away by the bandits," the security ministry yesterday said in a statement.
Security Minister Sada Samake went to Gao to investigate the killings with a view to bringing the perpetrators to justice, the statement said.
The UN mission to Mali, MINUSMA, issued its own statement saying it sent peacekeepers to the area. They counted 24 deaths and four people wounded, it said, adding that an unspecified number of suspects were arrested by Malian security forces.
"Our relatives were killed in cold blood, at least 30 people are dead," former regional lawmaker Assarid Ag Imbarcaouane said.
A source in the security forces said those slain included a woman and child.
The Tuaregs had been on their way back from a market in two vehicles when they were stopped and attacked by the Peul, the security source said.
Apart from cattle rustling, the Peul and the Tuaregs accuse each other of carrying out hold-ups in the remote desert north of Mali.
A contingent of Malian troops arrived in the region on yesterday to provide greater security for locals, the defence ministry announced.
