The chief of Mali's National Gendarmerie, Colonel Diamou Keita, announced on Wednesday evening that 22 persons have been arrested on Monday and Tuesday.

"These arrests are the result of investigations" for several days, Colonel Keita said on the country's national television, adding the 22 people included 11 civilians and 11 soldiers.

"An inquiry commission is located to get to the bottom on this issue, which will be forwarded to the judicial authorities," he said, adding "this is a hunting sorcerers."

During the investigations in homes, new weapons were discovered, but they are not of the type held by the army, said the colonel, who warned of "a new threat that is the infiltration of weapons in our country."

The arrest came amid the crisis in the west African nation after the military junta overthrew president Amadou Toumani Toure in a coup that took place on March 22.

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