Islamist forces in northern Mali have seized the town of Gao after clashes with Tuareg-led rebels.

马里北部地区伊斯兰教武装在与图阿雷格部落领导的叛军发生冲突之后占领了高城。

At least 20 people have been killed and the political leader of the Tuareg-led movement has been wounded.

Residents say the Islamists linked to al-Qaeda took over buildings occupied by the Tuaregs in the town - including their headquarters.

Tension has been growing since the Tuaregs and Islamists jointly¹ took control of northern Mali after a coup².

A spokesman for the Tuareg National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) told the BBC's Thomas Fessy that Bilal Ag Cherif was wounded during Tuesday's clashes.

His life is not in danger and he has been taken to a neighbouring country for treatment.

The fighting in Gao followed a day of protest after a local official was killed on Monday.

Residents said heavy weapons were being used.

A doctor in Gao told the BBC that most of the people who were killed and injured seemed to have been armed, but a number of civilians³ had also been caught in the fighting.

In March, the Islamists and MNLA advanced together through northern Mali after the government was overthrown⁴.

Our correspondent says that they proved unable to reach an agreement after they took control of the region.

After weeks of an unlikely alliance between the Tuareg-led fighters seeking a secular⁵ independent north and Islamist rebels who want to impose Islamic Sharia law across nothern Mali, this latest violence clearly illustrates⁶ the balance of power in the region, he adds.

More than 300,000 people have fled northern Mali since the rebels took the territory in the days following the 22 March coup.