Tensions in Mali have been on the rise as the May 15th deadline for signing a comprehensive peace deal nears.
Several attacks by armed rebels in northern Mali is threatening a recent United Nations-brokered ceasefire and peace deal.
Mali has experience conflict since 2013 when Army Captain Amadou Sanogo lead a coup removing the democratically elected government. Since the coup the Malian military has been fighting Tuareg militants from the north.
Diplomats fear that these recent attacks have the potential to undermine security efforts and political stability in Mali.
Rival rebel factions have also been targeting UN peacekeepers stationed in Mali in addition to strategic military stations in the country.
Tensions in Mali have been on the rise as the May 15th deadline for signing a comprehensive peace deal nears.
Attacks over the past week has left 9 soldiers dead and many more civilians wounded.
On Monday, rival ethnic factions clashed in the town of Menaka. Wednesday saw an attack on government forces by rebels from the Tuareg ethnic group with gunfire being targeting UN vehicles in Timbuktu.
The UN maintains a peacekeeping operation of more than 10,000 soldiers in Mali which has sustained 79 attacks and left 35 peacekeepers dead since July 2013.