Fighters from Islamic State Sahel Province killed at least 48 civilians in attacks on camps in Mali's eastern Menaka region from Sunday night into Monday, according to local officials and security sources cited by Reuters, AP and AFP.

Moussa Ag Acharatoumane, a Tuareg leader and member of Mali's National Transitional Council, put the toll at 48 and said the casualties included children and elderly people, AP reported. Two security sources and two local officials gave Reuters provisional tolls ranging from 48 to more than 70 and said the overall toll was still being determined Tuesday. AFP, in a report carried by BBC Afrique, cited a statement from the Daoussahak community saying at least 48 civilians were killed in Tagadayat, near Tinabow.

The attackers arrived on motorcycles, AFP's sources said. They set houses on fire and stole livestock, sending hundreds of civilians fleeing to Menaka town, Reuters' sources said. Some victims died in the fires and others were shot, the sources said, according to Reuters. "They didn't speak to anyone, they just started killing," a local source in Tinabow said, according to AFP (translated from French).

The four sources cited by Reuters said the attacks appeared to be retaliation for abuses allegedly carried out last week by a pro-government militia known as MSA and by Russia's Africa Corps against civilians suspected of informing for the Islamic State. Ag Acharatoumane said the attackers accused civilians of revealing the group's positions to the Malian army, AP reported. The camps mostly belong to the Daoussahak community, from which the MSA comes, AFP reported.

The group has not claimed responsibility, Reuters and AP reported. A Malian military spokesperson and Russia's embassy in Bamako did not respond to Reuters' request for comment, and Mali has previously denied killing civilians in counterinsurgency operations, Reuters reported. Mali's army said it had struck a base housing "several terrorist elements" about 65 kilometers (40 miles) southwest of Menaka, AP reported. AFP reported that the army said the operation took place Saturday.

Mali has been battling insurgents since Tuareg separatists and al Qaeda-linked militants swept across the north in 2012, Reuters reported. Islamic State Sahel Province has been locked in fierce fighting in recent weeks with JNIM, the regional al Qaeda affiliate, according to Reuters.

What we know: Islamic State Sahel Province fighters are blamed for killing at least 48 civilians in Menaka, and hundreds of people fled.
What we don't: The final death toll, and whether the group will claim the attacks.