The Malian military officers and their subordinates who had deserted the army have been struck off from the list of the country's Armed and Security Forces, a statement from the country's defence ministry said on Friday.

"Following multiple cases of desertions that have been discovered in the Armed and Security forces, the Defence Minister Yamoussa Camara instructed his specialised services to start the procedure of seeking for information from those officers who were absent without any justification," the statement added.

Colonel Idrissa Traore, the public relations officer of the army who signed the statement, noted that "efforts by various unit commanders to get information about the whereabouts of some of the absent officers under their command were unfruitful."

"The defense minister would therefore wish to inform both the national and international community that all the concerned military officers have been struck off from the army in accordance to the statutory provisions," Traore said in his statement.

"They will eventually be traced and charged before the martial court in conformity to the general statutes of the military and the martial law," the statement concluded and warned that the authorities will not tolerate more desertions from the army.