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MALI-UNREST
20 Mali soldiers killed in jihadist attack
BAMAKO, April 6, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Some 20 Malian soldiers were killed in
an apparent jihadist attack Monday, local politicians and a military official
said, in the latest bout of violence in the war-torn West African state.
Militants attacked a military base in the northern town of Bamba early on
Monday morning, according to a local government official, who called the
assailants “terrorists” and said at least 20 soldiers had died.
Another local official gave a similar account, explaining that the
militants arrived on motorbikes and in cars.
“Investigations are still ongoing on the ground because the death toll
must be higher than the 20 deaths announced,” the official said.
Mali has been struggling to contain a jihadist revolt that first broke out
in the north in 2012, and which has since spread to the centre of the country
and to neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.
Thousands of Malian soldiers and civilians have died in the conflict to
date, despite the presence of thousands of French and United Nations troops
in the country.
It was not immediately clear who carried out Monday’s attack.
A Malian army official stationed in northern Mali confirmed that an attack
had taken place in Bamba but said that there had been losses on both sides.
He added that the army did not have a clear idea of enemy losses, however,
because the militants took their casualties with them when they left the
area.
Another military official told AFP that reinforcements had been dispatched
to the area.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1624 hrs