BAMAKO — Unidentified gunmen yesterday killed at least 14 soldiers in central Mali, an area targeted by a growing wave of attacks by Islamist militants, when they overran a military camp early yesterday, two army officers said.
Reuters
West Africa’s arid Sahel region is suffering a spike in violence by militant groups, some with links to al Qaeda and Islamic State, that is drawing an increasingly aggressive response from countries, including France and the United States.
The military camp in the town of Soumpi, near the southern boundary of Mali’s Timbuktu region, came under attack at around 6am.
“The provisional toll is 14 dead, 17 wounded and two enemies killed. The search is still on for those missing,” one of the sources said. The second source said “around 15” soldiers had been killed.
“The soldiers abandoned their position. The enemy carried away material,” he said.
Both sources asked not to be named as they were not authorised to speak to the media.
Islamist fighters seized control of Mali’s northern desert regions in 2012 before being driven back by a French-led intervention a year later.
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But despite the presence of a UN peacekeeping mission and troops operating under a regional French anti-militant mission, violence is again on the rise and attacks are spreading further south towards the capital, Bamako.
