Malian troops clashed with Tuareg rebels outside the western town of Lere, near the border with Mauritania, in the first fighting since a ceasefire was signed in June. The military claimed that three soldiers were injured in the clash, and warned that the fighting could jeopardize the truce. Mali’s new president must start talks with the separatist Tuaregs by mid-November, under the terms of the ceasefire agreement. Security forces have handed over Abdelmadjid, a close aide to wanted terrorist leader Mokhtar Belmokhtar, to Algerian authorities after capturing him in Gao on Sept. 1.
