Tuareg fighters from the Movement for the Liberation of Azawad sit in their vehicle in a market in Timbuktu, Mali, April 14, 2012.
Protesters Clash with Rebel Rulers in Northern Mali Town
Witnesses in northern Mali report a clash between protesters and one of the militant groups that controls the area's major cities.
A youth leader in the city of Gao says that members of the Tuareg separatist group MNLA fired on about 200 protesters who had marched to the group's local headquarters Tuesday.
He says one person was killed and 12 others were injured, two of them seriously.
The protest was sparked by accusations that the MNLA killed an elected official, Idrissa Oumarou, on Monday after he resisted an attempt to steal his motorcycle. Tuesday's march was preceded by Oumarou's funeral.
In interviews with VOA last week, residents of Gao expressed resentment toward MNLA and Islamist groups that seized control of northern Mali in early April after a coup in the capital, Bamako.
Several people said they could not forgive the militants for looting and destroying buildings in the town.
A VOA reporter who visited Gao, Idriss Fall, said that life in the city of 85,000 is difficult, with food, water and electricity all scarce.
Photo Gallery:
A Visit to Gao, Northern Mali's Largest City
VOA reporter Idriss Fall is one of the first journalists to reach Gao, northern Mali's largest city, since Islamists seized control of the region several months ago and began enforcing a strict form of Sharia law - banning alcohol and smoking and insisting that women wear veils, among other measures.
The MNLA (Movement for the Liberation of Azawad) has launched an effort to reconcile with locals, holding meetings with youths and broadcasting a radio appeal for forgiveness.
The armed groups in Mali's north are bracing for possible counterattacks from the interim Malian government or newly-formed counter-insurgency group, known as the Northern Mali Liberation Front.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
The Voice of America provides news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of over 326 million people. Stories with the VOA News byline are the work of multiple VOA journalists and may contain information from wire service reports.
