Mali’s ex-junta known as CNRDRE on Tuesday claimed control of the camp of presidential guards, who launched a counter-coup the previous day in the capital Bamako.

Mali's ex-junta known as CNRDRE on Tuesday claimed control of the camp of presidential guards, who launched a counter-coup the previous day in the capital Bamako.

The junta said its soldiers overran the camp at 2:00 p.m. local time after an overnight shooting, in which at least 14 people were reportedly killed.

"We have just taken the Para Camp. We came to find that the camp was almost empty. We arrested five red berets (presidential guards), of whom three were taken to Kati and the other two were killed," a source of the CNRDRE told Xinhua news agency.

Kati, a military base, has been used as the headquarters by junta leaders since they launched a coup last month.

The junta said the guards of the toppled president, Amadou Toumani Toure, launched the counter-coup with foreign support, without identifying who was really behind.

It recently rejected the proposed deployment of a 3,000-strong mission from the West African bloc ECOWAS to help restore constitutional order and territorial integrity.

The National Committee for the Redressment of Democracy and Restoration of the State (CNRDRE) seized power on March 22 and handed it over this month to interim president Diouncounda Traore.

The junta said the guards loyal to the former regime failed in a counter-coup, in which they attempted to take the state broadcasting building and other important places.

The statement by the junta is another sign of its continued strength after surrendering power.

On April 16, the junta arrested 22 former military and civilian officials to the surprise of the regional bloc ECOWAS, which mediated a deal for the junta to transfer power. The arrestees were released days later.

Under the agreement, the junta holds the portfolios of defense, security and territorial administration in a government of 24 ministers under Prime Minister Cheick Modibo Diarra.

Ousted president Toure left for Senegal 10 days ago after rendered his resignation as president, whose term was due to expire this month.

Mali, once considered a model of democracy in West Africa, is facing twin crises of constitutional rule and territorial integrity.

While the country has a long way to go in the process of restoring democracy, it has a tougher challenge to regain control of the north, where Tuareg rebels declared an independent Azawad state, only weeks after the coup.