Local and security sources say unidentified armed men have killed at least three civilians in the conflict-ridden northern desert region of Mali in two days.

The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said two people were fatally shot around the ancient caravan city of Timbuktu, located roughly 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) north of the capital, Bamako, on Wednesday and Thursday, while the third person was gunned down near the town of Gao, located around 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) northeast of Bamako, on Wednesday.

"A 40-year-old civilian was shot dead on Thursday by gunmen around 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of Timbuktu," a foreign security source announced.

A local official added that another civilian lost his life in a drive-by shooting on Wednesday near the town of Goundam, situated 100 kilometers (60 miles) southwest of Timbuktu.

The Gao victim was a hauler who had been kidnapped on Monday near the flashpoint town of Menaka, seized from rebels by pro-government fighters in April in an operation that has sparked numerous violations of a ceasefire agreement in the area.

"We found his body on Wednesday. He was murdered. He was an ordinary man who was very popular in Menaka, and wasn't involved in politics," a local government official stated.

On May 29, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees spokesman, William Spindler, said the fresh bout of clashes between rival militant groups operating in Mali’s restive northern areas has displaced some 57,000 people over the past four weeks.

Spindler said those uprooted had either fled to save their own lives and those of their family members, or tried to evade forced recruitment by armed groups wreaking havoc in the West African nation.

The newly displaced add to more than 43,000 internally-displaced persons (IDPs) throughout the impoverished landlocked state, he added.

Mali plunged into turmoil after President Amadou Toumani Toure was overthrown in a military coup on March 22, 2012. The coup leaders said they staged the coup d’état in response to the government’s inability to contain the rebellion in the country’s north. The rebels are fighting to gain autonomy in the northern region of Mali.

French soldiers marched through the West African country in January 2013 under the pretext of putting an end to the crisis there.

The UN Security Council adopted resolution 2100 on April 25, 2013, and the UN’s Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) was established. MINUSMA is tasked with security-related operations in Mali.

MP/MHB/SS