More than 50 dead in jihadist attack on Mali Army

Jihadists attacked the Malian military near the border with Niger, leaving at least 53 soldiers and one civilian dead, in the second major assault against the country’s armed forces in a month, the Government said yesterday.

The latest violence to target Mali’s armed forces was in Indelimane, which is in Mali’s volatile Menaka region.

“Reinforcements have been sent . . . and the situation is under control with the support of the French military, which is helping to evacuate the wounded,” government spokesman Yaya Sangare said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, though jihadists with links to Islamic State are active in the area.

The new violence is likely to further raise tensions in the capital, Bamako, where military families have already protested in the streets, saying soldiers are not being given the resources they need to confront an array of jihadist groups.

The latest violence occurred a month after 41 soldiers were killed and 20 others went missing during two attacks on Malian soldiers taking part in a regional counterterrorism force.

The attacks are among the most deadly against the Malian Army since a 2013 French-led military intervention to oust the jihadists in the major towns of northern Mali.

In a separate incident, a French Army officer was killed when his armoured vehicle was hit by an explosive device, President Emmanuel Macron said yesterday.

More than two dozen French troops have been killed in Mali.