UN refugee agency sent emergency teams to countries near Mali

The UN refugee agency said Tuesday it has sent emergency teams to countries surrounding Mali to help them deal with an influx of more than 20,000 people who have fled the fighting there, the AFP reports.

Clashes between rebel Tuareg groups and governmental forces in the Azawad region of northern Mali broke out in mid-January.

In the past three weeks, at least 10,000 people are reported to have crossed to Niger, 9,000 have found refuge in Mauritania and 3,000 in Burkina Faso, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said.

The rebels want an autonomous region of Azawad in the Sahara desert.

The Azawad National Liberation Movement (MNLA) took up arms last month following the return of many Tuareg fighters from Libya, where they had fought with Col Muammar Gaddafi's forces, the BBC reports.