At least 48 people were killed in weekend attacks by militants linked to the Islamic State group in the Menaka region of eastern Mali, a lawmaker told the Associated Press on Tuesday. Fighters from the Islamic State Sahel Province, known as ISSP, attacked from Sunday night into Monday morning, and the casualties included children and elderly people, said Moussa Ag Acharatoumane, a Tuareg leader and a member of Mali's National Transitional Council.

Reuters, citing two security sources and two local officials, reported provisional death tolls ranging from 48 to more than 70 across at least five localities, with the overall toll still being determined on Tuesday. The sources said ISSP fighters set houses on fire and stole livestock, sending hundreds of civilians fleeing to Menaka town; some of the dead were killed in the fires and others were shot. Those figures are provisional source accounts, not a confirmed final toll.

Ag Acharatoumane told AP the attackers accused the civilians of revealing ISSP positions to the Malian army, which had been conducting drone strikes on the group — that is his account of the motive. Reuters' sources said the attacks appeared to be in response to alleged abuses carried out last week in the area by a pro-government militia known as MSA and by Africa Corps, the Russian paramilitary group that backs Mali's government. A municipal official in Menaka told Reuters the militiamen, accompanying Mali's army and Africa Corps, had committed abuses against civilians suspected of being Islamic State informants, killing about a dozen people and setting fire to houses — an allegation, not an independently verified finding. A Malian military spokesperson and Russia's embassy in Bamako did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment, and Mali has previously denied killing civilians in counterinsurgency operations.

On Monday, the Malian army announced it had located a major base housing “several terrorist elements” and military equipment and logistical supplies 65 kilometres (40 miles) southwest of the town of Menaka. “After confirming the intelligence gathered and assessing the situation, the site was targeted and successfully struck,” an army statement said. ISSP, which operates mostly in the Menaka region and also faces stiff competition from the rival al Qaeda-linked group Jama'at Nusrat Al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), has not claimed responsibility for the weekend attacks.

Mali has been battling insurgents since 2012, and the wider Sahel region has become the deadliest place in the world for extremism, AP reported. The military governments of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have struggled to turn the tide of armed attacks in recent years despite seizing power and turning to Russia for help.

Sources: Associated Press reporting (lawmaker Moussa Ag Acharatoumane; Malian army statement); Reuters reporting (two security sources and two local officials, speaking on condition of anonymity).