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Six injured militiamen who were captured by Somaliland army this week in the district of Hudun in sool region have been brought to Burco general hospital for specialized treatment.
The Khaatumo affiliated militiamen were held at the Burco maximum prison after been captured during a fierce firefight last Tuesday in Hudun district after a failed ambush they had launched on a Somaliland army base,said Gen Shaqalle.
One of the Islamist groups fighting in northern Mali has split and wants dialogue, a statement from the faction seen by the AFP news agency says.
Islamic Movement for Azawad said it was splitting from Ansar Dine, and “rejects all forms of extremism and terrorism”.
The Malian army entered Douentza on Monday morning after regaining control of two other towns in anti- rebel operations with the support of French troops, the military told Xinhua.
Douentza is in the central region of Mopti, 165 km away from Sevare, the site for the operational command of Malian and French forces.
A total of 37 foreign workers died in a hostage crisis at an Algerian desert gas plant and seven are still missing, Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal said on Monday.
Mr Sellal also told a news conference that a Canadian had co-ordinated the attack by Islamists on the site near the Libyan border.
The Malian government forces, backed with French bombardments, retook the town of Diabaly, about 360 km northeast of Bamako, on Friday, the second victory after they captured Konna in further north on Thursday, security sources said.
After two days of fierce fighting, supported by airstrikes by French troops, the Malian army entered Diabaly, a small town near Niono, as the rebels abandoned the town that they seized on Monday.
Nigerian soldiers arrive at the airport in Bamako on Thursday as part of the West African force meant to help French troops drive Islamists from their strongholds in northern Mali.
The first West African regional forces arrived in Mali on Thursday to reinforce French and Malian troops battling to push back al-Qaeda-linked rebels after seven days of French air strikes.
A contingent of around 100 Togolese troops landed in Bamako and was due to be joined by Nigerian forces already en route. Nigerien and Chadian forces were massing in Niger, Mali’s neighbor to the east.
French troops have engaged in close-quarter combat with Islamist fighters on Wednesday in the Malian town of Diabaly in the first ground clashes after days of air strikes, according to security forces.
Earlier, France’s army chief confirmed French troops have begun a ground offensive in Mali.
“The ground operation began several hours ago,” Admiral Edouard Guillaud told Europe 1 radio on Wednesday morning.