• Refugees flee violence in Mali

    Abdelhak Senna / AFP - Getty Images

    A young Malian refugee shelters in M'bere camp near Bassiknouin south-east Mauritania on May 2.

    Abdelhak Senna / AFP - Getty Images

    Malian refugee children play in the M'bere refugee camp near Bassiknou in the Nema region of Southwestern Mauritania on May 2.

    Abdelhak Senna / AFP - Getty Images

    A youmg girl poses in the M'bere refugee camp near Bassiknou in the Nema region of Southwestern Mauritania on May 2. More than 320,000 people have fled their homes in Mali since mid-January, with more than half seeking refuge in neighbouring countries, UN officials said.

    Abdelhak Senna / AFP - Getty Images

    Malian army soldiers patrol in the M'bere refugee camp near Bassiknou in the Nema region of Southwestern Mauritania on May 2.

    Abdelhak Senna / AFP - Getty Images

    A Malian refugee holds her children in the M'bere refugee camp near Bassiknou in the Nema region of Southwestern Mauritania on May 2.

     From Reuters: BAMAKO  - Gunfire erupted in Mali's capital Bamako on Wednesday in the third day of clashes between the military junta and soldiers loyal to the ousted president, forcing residents to flee for cover, witnesses said.

    A Malian security source told Reuters the junta's troops were asking people to leave their buildings as they searched for remaining loyalist fighters, including suspected foreign mercenaries, who had mounted a counter-coup attempt.

    "The evacuation is meant to help the work of the soldiers who are in the process of sweeping the city in search of mercenaries that have infiltrated the population," the source said, asking not to be named. For the latest on this violence in Mali click here.

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  • Soldiers stage coup in Mali

    Habibou Kouyate / AFP - Getty Images

    Soldiers crowd a truck in a street of Bamako on March 22. Malian President Amadou Toumani Toure, who was forced to flee his palace during an overnight coup, is well and in a safe location, a loyalist military source told AFP Thursday. Toure, who was to step down after an election scheduled for April 29, is "in good health... and in a safe location" following the seizure of power by a group of renegade soldiers, the official said without elaborating.

    Habibou Kouyate / AFP - Getty Images

    Residents run past soldiers in a street of Bamako on March 22. Malian President Amadou Toumani Toure, who was forced to flee his palace during an overnight coup, is well and in a safe location, a loyalist military source told AFP Thursday. Toure, who was to step down after an election scheduled for April 29, is "in good health... and in a safe location" following the seizure of power by a group of renegade soldiers, the official said without elaborating.

    Nic Bothma / EPA

    A file picture dated April 27, 2007 shows Mali president Amadou Toumani Toure at an election rally in the capital Bamako, Mali.

    BAMAKO -- Renegade soldiers said they seized power in Mali on Thursday and ordered its borders closed, threatening to reignite instability in a Saharan region shaken by the conflict in Libya.

    The overnight coup bid was led by low-ranking soldiers angry at the government's failure to stamp out a two-month-old separatist rebellion in the north of the west African state.

    Heavy weapons fire rang out throughout the night as the presidential palace came under attack. The whereabouts of President Amadou Toumani Toure, who oversaw a decade of relative stability, are unknown.

    Mali's neighbors, the United Nations and world powers from Paris to Washington called for a return to constitutional rule.

    The 7,000-strong army has for weeks sought better weapons to fight northern Tuareg rebels bolstered by heavily armed ethnic allies who fled Libya after fighting for ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi.

    Read the full story.

    -- Reuters

    Malin Palm / Reuters

    Malian soldiers and security forces gather at the offices of the state radio and television broadcaster after announcing a coup d'etat, in the capital Bamako, March 22. Renegade Malian soldiers went on state television on Thursday to declare they had seized power in protest at the government's failure to quell a nomad-led rebellion in the north.

     

    Malin Palm / Reuters

    General view over the offices of the state radio and television broadcaster after Malian soldiers announced a coup d'etat, in the capital Bamako, March 22. Renegade Malian soldiers went on state television on Thursday to declare they had seized power in protest at the government's failure to quell a nomad-led rebellion in the north.

     

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