2 yıl önce

Over a dozen Malian soldiers killed in twin attacks

Thirty-seven "terrorists" were also killed during the attacks as the country struggles to contain an insurgency that emerged in 2012.

AFP

France, which intervened in Mali in 2013, decided last month to withdraw its forces in the country after a decade.

Twin attacks in Mali this week have killed 16 soldiers and wounded 18 in the latest violence sweeping the Sahel state.

The army's statement late on Tuesday lifted the casualty toll of four soldiers dead and 17 injured in separate attacks on Monday in the northeast and centre of the conflict-torn country.

Thirty-seven "terrorists" were also killed during the attacks, and weapons and munitions captured, the army said.

Daesh group claimed responsibility for one of Monday's attacks, on a military outpost in northeastern Mali.

An impoverished nation of 21 million people, Mali has struggled to contain an insurgency that emerged in 2012, before spreading to neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.

High human cost

Thousands of soldiers and civilians have been killed in the brutal conflict and hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes.

Mali's ruling military junta, which seized power in 2020, stated Tuesday that insurgents were being "routed".

However, its latest claimed military successes have come at a high human cost.

An ambush on an army camp in the centre of country on March 4 killed 27 soldiers, for example, in the deadliest reported attack against the army in several months. The military said it killed 70 militants in the fighting.

Poor access to Mali's conflict areas and a relative lack of independent information sources means that figures provided by either the government or insurgent groups are difficult to verify.