Sixteen soldiers killed in central Mali attack

By AFP

Sixteen soldiers were killed and 10 wounded in an attack in central Mali on Wednesday, security and health officials in the war-torn Sahel state said.

In a statement, Mali’s army said the troops had been the target of a “complex IED attack”, referring to an improvised explosive device, and then came under heavy gunfire shortly before 11:30 am.

The army blamed the attack on suspected militants and said that after pursuit, 15 of the assailants were killed and 20 motorcycles seized.

Mali has been struggling to contain an Islamist insurgency that first erupted in the north in 2012 and has since claimed thousands of military and civilian lives.