10 killed by land mine in northern Mali

A transport vehicle hit a land mine in tense northern Mali on Thursday, killing 10 people, a government statement said. Others were injured, but the statement did not say how many.

The vehicle was on a road in the area of Tinzawaten _ the same area in the West African nation where Malian security officers were seized by gunmen earlier this week.

Army spokesman Col. Abdoulaye Coulibaly said it was too soon to know if the land mine deaths and the hostage-takings were connected, but he noted that it had been years since a vehicle had hit a mine in the region.

Nearly 40 security officers were seized in two raids by gunmen Sunday and Monday _ though some have since been released. A government statement identified the attackers as "armed bandits," a term that has been used to refer to Tuareg rebels active in the area.

On Monday, a military convoy transporting supplies between the northern towns of Kidal and Tinzawaten was attacked and 15 soldiers were taken hostage. And on Sunday in Tidjeret, 24 hostages were taken.

About 10 of the officers seized were released Wednesday, a military official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because the information had not yet been officially released to the media.

Though Mali is often called one of the most stable countries in West Africa, its northeastern desert region was the launching point for a 1990s Tuareg rebellion, and clashes between Tuareg fighters and army soldiers re-erupted as recently as last year.