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Mali army reinforces town near capital after Islamist sighting

Malian soldiers stand guard as Mali's President Dioncounda Traore speaks to French troops at an air base in Bamako, Mali January 16, 2013. REUTERS/Joe Penney

(Reuters) – The Malian army sped reinforcements on Thursday to a town close to the capital Bamako after Islamist fighters were spotted in the nearby border region with Mauritania, residents and a military source said.

Malian soldiers stand guard as Mali’s President Dioncounda Traore speaks to French troops at an air base in Bamako, Mali January 16, 2013. REUTERS/Joe Penney

“Banamba is in a state of alert. Reinforcements have been sent. Nigerian troops expected to arrive in Bamako today could be deployed there to secure the zone,” a senior Malian military source told Reuters.

An inhabitant of Banamba, 140 km (86 miles) from the capital, reported the arrival of soldiers after fighters belonging to an Islamist coalition battling French forces further north were seen in Boron, an area along the porous border. (Reporting by Tiemoko Diallo; Writing by Joe Bavier; editing by Daniel Flynn)

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