The dismantling of terror cells in Mauritania has exposed arms caches and supplies in the hard-to-police Mauritanian Sahara.

Seven armed men suspected of being members of the North African wing of al-Qaeda (AQIM) have been arrested in the Mauritanian desert, security officials say.

The men - described as 'active members of al-Qaeda' - were arrested last week as they were travelling in two sport-utility vehicles to the remote Lemgheity region, near the Mali-Nigeria border, a senior security official told AFP on Monday.

However controversy surrounds the identity of the detained men as a city councilor in the Malian city of Timbuktu claimed that those arrested were members of his family - all civilians, and not terrorists.

"We are sure that they belong to AQIM and we are continuing to question them," the official said.

Lemgheity, a well-known terrorist lair, was the site of a June 2005 attack by the notorious group that left 15 Mauritanian soldiers dead.

AQIM has also claimed responsibility for a suicide bomb attack near the French embassy in the country's capital Nouakchott on August 8 in which the perpetrator was killed and three people injured.

On June 23, an American living in Mauritania was shot dead in broad daylight in the capital, in yet another attack claimed by AQIM.

Mauritanian security forces have recently stepped-up anti-terror operations in the area, apprehending several men accused of spying on troop movements for the al-Qaeda network and dismantling terrorist cells.

According to local paper Tahalil Hebdo, this has led to the discovery of arms caches and supplies in the vast and hard-to-police Mauritanian Sahara.

presstv