Unidentified gunmen have carried out an attack on the town of Nara in western Mali, with no immediate reports on potential casualties or damage.

“There was an exchange of gunfire. The attack was repelled. The army is patrolling the town looking for them,” said Mali army spokesperson Colonel Souleymane Maiga.

The identity or affiliation of the assailants is unknown as of yet.

"Civilians took shelter as soon as they heard the fighting, said Nara resident Foussein Keita.

Last week, a landmark peace deal between the government and rebels was signed in the Malian capital, Bamako, to end years of unrest in a country battered by ethnic divisions and al-Qaeda-linked militancy.

The peace deal, known as the Algiers Accord, had been signed in the Algerian capital in May by the government and its loyalist fighters. But the Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA), a coalition of rebel groups, had been holding out until their requested amendments were agreed to three weeks ago.

The Algiers Accord aims to end hostilities in Mali’s vast northern desert, where Tuareg rebels have launched several uprisings since the 1960s. The area has also been a main sanctuary for militants linked to al-Qaeda.

Dozens of assailants, suspected to be al-Qaeda-linked militants, attacked a police base near Mali’s southern border with Ivory Coast earlier this month.

Militant attacks in Mali are generally focused in the desert areas in the north, however, attacks have in recent months crept further south.

XLS/HJL/HMV