The United Nations' peacekeeping mission has uncovered mass graves in a region of northern Mali beset by conflict between rival groups, the mission said on Saturday. Fighting between Tuareg groups has intensified in recent weeks in the north, threatening to derail a 2015 peace agreement.
The UN mission, known as MINUSMA, has investigated reports of human rights abuses, including in the village of Anefis, about 100 km (60 miles) southwest from the town of Kidal. "As for Anefis, the teams were able to observe on site the existence of individual graves and mass graves but are not able to establish at this stage either the number of people buried or the circumstances of their deaths," MINUSMA said in a statement.