Mali says 20 killed in "drugs-linked" rebel raid

By Tiemoko Diallo

BAMAKO, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Nine Malian government troops and 11 Tuareg rebel fighters were killed when a rebel column attacked an army post in a weekend raid linked to drug trafficking, Mali's defence ministry said on Sunday.

The attack early on Saturday on the Nampala post, near the Mauritanian border 400 km (250 miles) northeast of the capital Bamako, took place despite a five-month-old Algerian-mediated ceasefire between the government and the rebels.

A defence ministry statement revised the casualty figures. Malian military sources had initially said on Saturday that at least 14 government soldiers were killed.

"The military post at Nampala was attacked by an armed band linked to drug traffickers. Casualties on the armed forces' side were nine killed and 12 wounded and on the attackers' side 11 killed and numerous wounded," the statement said.

There was no independent confirmation of the casualty figures and there were reports civilians were also killed.

Malian military sources said they believed the attackers, who used several four-wheel-drive vehicles, were fighters loyal to Tuareg insurgent leader Ibrahim Bahanga.

The fiercely independent desert nomads, who staged previous revolts in the 1960s and 1990s, say they are fighting for more autonomy for their Saharan homelands.

Mali's army, backed and trained by the United States as part of Washington's "war on terror" against Islamic militants in the Sahara, says Bahanga, seen as a rogue element among Malian Tuaregs, has tried to protect drugs- and arms-smuggling routes.