At least 10 Malian soldiers were killed on Saturday in an attack on their camp in the restive north blamed on jihadists, military sources and a local official told AFP.
The camp in Soumpi, Timbuktu region, was targeted on Saturday morning by armed men, they said.
“Ten of our men were killed in action this Saturday during a cowardly terrorist attack on the Soumpi camp. There are 17 wounded,” a military source reached in Bamako told AFP.
The local official confirmed the death toll of the attack, and said five wounded men were transferred to the town of Niafunke for medical treatment.
A foreign military source described the attack as “complex”, adding there were “several victims”.
Mali’s deteriorating security situation is of growing concern as Al-Qaeda-linked groups mount increasingly deadly attacks on domestic and foreign forces.
The latest attack comes two days after 26 civilians including mothers and babies were killed when their vehicle ran over a landmine in Boni, central Mali, according to a UN death toll.
