The Malian Cabinet adopted a bill authorizing compensation of both military and civilian victims of the war that broke out in the northern part of the West African country in January 2012, as well as those who suffered due to the March 22 coup d'etat, an official source said on Wednesday.

In order for the law to be implemented, a statement from the Cabinet said, it is expected that a commission will be formed to evaluate and register the victims to facilitate the compensation process.

The statement noted that the agreement that was signed on April 6 between the West African bloc ECOWAS and the military junta stipulated that in order to get a solution to the security, political and humanitarian crises that the country was going through, there was need to pass a law that would provide for the compensation of victims of the war in the North and the coup d'etat that led to the resignation of president Amadou Toumani Toure.

Mali has entered a one-year transition after a deal was struck between ECOWAS and the junta to restore constitutional rule and territorial integrity.

The junta launched the coup citing Toure's failure to curb Tuareg separatists in northern Mali since January, only to see the rebels sweep through the North in weeks.