“This is not true. These are falsehoods, attempts at propaganda, attempts to destabilise the Malian armed forces... Menaka is not under siege, less still Tessit or Ansongo [in neighbouring Gao region],” FAMa’s public relations director-general Col Souleymane Dembele said in a briefing on Monday.

He also said the army has been frequently patrolling the region.

The remarks coincide with plans by leading trade unions in Gao to begin a two-day strike today to protest against the military government’s apparent inaction against growing Islamist militant attacks.

This is worsened by nearly daily reports of kidnappings, armed robberies and livestock theft by criminal gangs that move between the volatile borderlands.

Reports emerged on Monday of an audio message purportedly belonging to the leader of a prominent pro-government militia – the Self-Defence Group of Imghad Tuaregs and Their Allies (Gatia) – urging members of the Tuareg community in Mali and neighbouring countries to take up arms against the IS.

Tuareg militia have been at the frontline of fighting against the IS, which has been accused of massacring hundreds of civilians in Menaka since March.

Late last month, deadly clashes between fighters from IS and rivals from al-Qaeda’s Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) erupted over the control of Menaka, forcing thousands of residents to flee.

Although the army has been receiving support from Russian mercenaries who arrived in December, French troops' hasty departure upended nearly a decade of efforts to stabilise the Sahel nation.

Since the insurgency broke out in 2012, Malian authorities have lost control of vast parts of the country.