A list naming beneficiaries of social-housing units in the city has circulated on social media in recent weeks, provoking outrage in the impoverished Sahel state.

Several people on the list are thought to have close links to Mali's army-dominated government -- which has set tackling corruption as a major objective.

Late Tuesday, the housing ministry stated that it was suspending the process of allocating social housing due to "some anomalies" it said had come to its attention "through the media".

It added that it had made the decision in order to "carry out necessary verifications."

The affair has sparked broad anger across Mali and prompted well-known supporters of the military junta demand action.

Mali's army seized power in August 2020 off the back of mass protests against perceived government corruption, among other issues, deposing elected president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.

On February 7, interim Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla Maiga told foreign diplomats that tackling corruption and delivering security were government priorities.

Swathes of Mali lie outside of state control due to a brutal Islamist insurgency that first emerged in 2012, and has since spread to neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.