Attack From Mali Kills 4, Burkina Faso Charges

Malian troops and planes attacked two towns and a border village in this West African country formerly known as Upper Volta, killing four people, Burkina Faso charged Wednesday. It said that its troops killed 10 of the invaders in a recurrence of a 25-year-old border dispute.

In Mali’s capital of Bamako, a statement by the ruling party said that Malian troops have “freed” four of the disputed border villages occupied by Burkina Faso’s troops but denied claims that any of its men were killed in the fighting. Only one Malian was wounded in the attack, it said.

The statement said that Malian troops had mounted a counterattack on the villages, which it said were occupied two weeks ago.

Earlier, Burkina Faso’s ruling National Revolutionary Council said in a statement that in addition to the 10 killed, many Malians were wounded in what it said were air raids and ground attacks well inside its territory.

The council charged that Mali took advantage of a troop pullback earlier this week to launch “barbaric” air raids on the towns of Ouahigouya, in Yatenga province, 140 miles inside Burkina Faso, and Djibo, in Soum province, as well as the border village of Nassoungou. Malian ground units also attacked the village of Diounouga, it added.

The statement said the Malian targets were a rural welfare center and grain silos and that the dead and wounded were all civilians.

Poor Lands, Rich Area

The conflict between the two impoverished former French colonies is over a 90-mile area running along the Beli River, in the Agacher region, which is reputedly rich in manganese and other minerals as well as in natural gas.

The nation’s ruling council, headed by Capt. Thomas Sankara, accused unnamed foreign countries of being behind what it called the “dastardly attack.” But it also said that Burkina Faso still wants a peaceful solution to the border conflict, which flared for a time into full-fledged warfare in December, 1974.

Tension rose again last week when Mali accused Burkina Faso troops of occupying four of its villages and forcing their inhabitants to accept identity cards. Burkina Faso said the troops were protecting officials taking a census in the disputed area and were later pulled out.

The pullout is to be verified on the ground today by officials from Niger, Togo, Algeria and a West African regional grouping.

The attack apparently took place as Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Taleb Ibrahimi arrived in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso’s capital, to mediate in the dispute. Algerian President Chadli Benjedid has met envoys from the two countries in Algiers over the last 48 hours.