54 killed in militant attack on Mali army post

A Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) patch worn by a soldier is pictured during the Operation Barkhane in Ndaki

A Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) patch worn by a soldier is pictured during the Operation Barkhane in Ndaki

Published Nov 2, 2019

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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. 

Reuters

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