Mali government vows to defeat Tuareg rebels

The Malian government has said it is determined to defeat Tuareg rebels who are seeking to set up an independent state in the country's north.

Prime minister Cissé Mariam Kaïdama Sidibé said that the rebels who had taken up arms would not be allowed to destroy the country's current set up.

"The government reiterates its determination to fight those who want to attack the integrity of our national territory," said Mrs Sidibé at a meeting with northern communities in Bamako

The premier assured representatives of affected communities in the region that included the Touareg, Arab and Sonrhaï that the government would do its best to reinforce the country's security and unity.

Tuareg rebels have in the last two weeks attacked towns in the north in a fresh rebellion since another one ended in 2009.

They say they are seeking an independent state in Azawad to the north of land-locked Mali, a region which includes Kidal, Timbuktu and Gao.

Mali President Amadou Toumani Touré earlier this week said that the government had channelled enough supplies to government troops fighting the rebels.

Demanded information

Malians have demanded authorities give them the right information on the continuing attacks and the state of refugees as anxiety gripped the country over the fighting.

Aid groups estimate that close to 30,000 Malians have sought refuge in neighbouring countries such as Burkina Faso, Niger and Mauritania.

Mrs Sidibé said that officials would be sent to missions abroad to ask refugees who have fled the fighting to come back.

There have also been reprisal attacks in the capital Bamako as those believed to be Tuaregs were targeted.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon has called for talks saying that he was "deeply concerned" over the fighting. The UN said that the battles were exacerbating an already dire humanitarian situation in the north caused by drought.

The rebels, led by the Azawad National Liberation Movement (MNLA), Wednesday said they had seized the town of Tinzawaten near the Algerian border as they look to push inward.

Both sides are thought to have suffered major casualties.

A nomadic community of about 1.5 million people, Tuaregs are found dispersed in Libya, Burkina Faso, Algeria, Niger and Mali.