A Tuareg-led insurgent group said on Saturday it had attacked a ​town in northern Mali where government troops ‌and Russian paramilitary forces are based, and residents of two other localities in northern and central Mali reported ​hearing gunfire and explosions.

The assault was the ​latest threat to the military-led government in the ⁠landlocked Sahel country where rebels staged high-profile ​attacks in April, hitting the airport in the ​capital Bamako, killing the defence minister and seizing a string of army bases in the north.

Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, spokesperson for ​the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), told Reuters that ​fighters from the group had attacked the town of Anefis ‌in ⁠the northeastern Kidal region early Saturday morning. Government and Russian troops deployed in Anefis in the wake of the April attacks in which the FLA ​and the ​regional al ⁠Qaeda affiliate seized control of Kidal town.

In the central city of Gao, ​a local official said there had been ​gunfire ⁠and rockets launched at a military camp since before dawn on Saturday. It was not immediately clear ⁠which ​fighters were responsible.

A government spokesperson ​did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

-Reuters