BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Fighting broke out Wednesday between secular and Islamist rebels who are vying for control of northern Mali, leaving at least three people wounded after a shootout that underlines the growing tensions in the region.

Oumar Ould Hamaha, a fighter with the Islamist group known as Ansar Dine, told The Associated Press that a group of armed rebels from the National Movement for the Liberation of the Azawad had tried to enter the city of Timbuktu.