DOUANKARA, Mauritania (AP) — A makeshift village in the Mauritanian desert shelters thousands of refugees who have fled Mali in recent weeks as fighting intensifies against militants linked to al-Qaida.

Strips of fabric tied between sticks serve as homes. Tree branches double as storage. Many people fled without their livestock, the source of their livelihoods. There is little protection from the Sahel’s punishing heat and wind. Still, refugees say it is safer than Mali.

The Associated Press obtained rare access to the border area, where refugees said they were caught between combatants in what has become the world’s deadliest region for extremist violence, according to the Global Terrorism Index.

Some refugees described alleged abuses by the newest actor in the conflict, a Russian mil

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