BAMAKO, Mali, April 1 (UPI) -- Much of northern Mali was under separatist rebel control Sunday after residents of Timbuktu told the BBC of hearing the sounds of heavy guns.
An unidentified resident told the broadcaster there was no fighting inside the town and the Mali army had fled. He said a local Arabic militia was prepared to defend the town from the Tuareg separatists demanding their own swath of land in the north.
Mali underwent a military junta a week ago by officers who claimed President Amadou Toumani Toure wasn't doing enough to put down the rebels.
Toure wasn't injured and was still somewhere in the country, the BBC said.
The West African regional group of countries called ECOWAS issued a warning to the military to back down and allow Toure back or face border closures and a financial blockade.
The group's current leader, Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara, told reporters Saturday night some 2,000 troops from member countries were on standby if the military didn't restore the elected government to deal with the rebels.
"We must succeed because if Mali is divided, carved up, it is a bad example," he said.
