BAMAKO - At least 53 soldiers and one
civilian have been killed in an attack on an army post in
northern Mali, the government said, in one of the deadliest
strikes against the West African country's military in recent
memory.
The authorities first reported the attack in Indelimane,
Menaka region, on Friday, but gave a lower provisional death
toll.
"Heavily armed unidentified men attacked around noon. The
attack started with shellfire...Then they retreated toward
Niger," government spokesman Yaya Sangare told Reuters on
Saturday.
He added the death toll remained provisional as corpses were
undergoing identification, and that the army was undertaking a
combing operation on the ground with support from international
forces, including French troops from the Barkhane operation and
U.N. peacekeepers.
"The dispatched reinforcements found 54 bodies including one
civilian, 10 survivors, and found considerable material damage,"
Sangare said on Twitter earlier on Saturday.
France said one of its soldiers there had died after his
vehicle hit an improvised explosive device, according to a
statement by the French presidency.
The attack follows jihadist raids in late September that
underscored the increasing reach and sophistication of armed
groups operating in the region.
From their stronghold in Mali, groups with al Qaeda and
Islamic State links have been able to fan out across the Sahel,
destabilising parts of Niger and Burkina Faso.
Thirty-eight Malian soldiers were killed on Sept. 30 in
coordinated attacks on two army bases in central Mali, which has
slipped from government control despite the presence of the
French army and other international forces.