Shops in Kidal, a town on the extreme northern region of Mali, did not open their doors on Tuesday morning following an order by the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), a Touareg separatist movement, local sources have said.

"Following an order by MNLA, all shops in the town were closed. The same movement has asked all the residents to go to the airfield," a local resident said.

"The MNLA has a thousand and one spokesmen. Each spokesman gives his version. For example, an MNLA official said the move was to protest against the presence of the Malian army at Bourem locality, about 300 km from Kidal. Another spokesman said the decision was to protest against the arrival of the Malian army in Kidal," the local source added.

"Our town is almost empty at this moment when I am speaking to you (Tuesday morning). In my opinion, the order by MNLA was fully respected because all shops have been closed and everyone is heading towards the airport," another resident from Kidal told Xinhua on phone.

Another source said that residents of Kidal held a protest march on Tuesday morning, during which a youth burnt the Malian flag.

"The objective of the march is to express their disappointment with the presence of the Malian army at Bourem," the same source said, adding that the protesters who claimed to be spokesmen for MNLA, asked traders to close their shops.