Mali's military says army troops killed 16 Islamic preachers for failing to stop at a military checkpoint.

Officials said Sunday that the dead include 12 preachers from Mauritania, 2 from Pakistan and 2 from Mali.

They did not say if the preachers were armed.

The shooting took place late Saturday in a small community called Diabaly, located about 300 kilometers northeast of the capital, Bamako.

The government claims the group belonged to the Islamic sect Dawa.

The current leader of the al-Qaida-allied militant group Ansar Dine is a former Dawa sect member.

The Malian government is trying to regained control of the north, which was seized from the army earlier this year by Ansar Dine and other Islamist militant groups.