Bamako, Sept. 2 (ANI): Militant Mali Islamist rebels have seized the strategic town of Douentza, extending the area they control in the north of the country.
Witnesses said fighters of the Movement for Unity and Jihad group took over the town after a brief stand-off with the local self-defence militia.
According to the BBC, the move brings the militants closer to the government-held south-west.
According to the report, residents of Douentza, about 800-km (500 miles) north-east of Mali's capital Bamako, said a convoy of pick-up vehicles carrying bearded men entered the town early on Saturday.
Islamist leader Oumar Ould Hamaha said the attackers had encircled the town and asked the local militiamen to surrender, the report said.
"They tried to make phone calls to ask for reinforcements, but when they saw that no-one was coming to help them they laid down their arms," he said.
The Islamists have been accused of war crimes and attempting to impose a literal interpretation of Islamic Sharia law, prompting fears the region could become a regional hub for al-Qaeda-linked militancy, the report said.
Islamist fighters in the historic city of Timbuktu have demolished several Sufi shrines and mosques, which are regarded as idolatrous by the hard-liners, prompting international fears for the future of the UNESCO world heritage site, the report added. (ANI)
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