Unidentified gunmen attacked a military camp in northern Mali early Saturday, killing 14 Malian soldiers and injuring 17, according to local authorities. Army officers cited by Reuters said the post in Soumpi, near Timbuktu, was attacked around 6am local time, and two of the attackers were killed. </s> ABIDJAN, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Unidentified gunmen overran a military camp near Timbuktu in northern Mali early on Saturday, killing at least 14 soldiers, two army officers said.

“Around 6 a.m. (0600 GMT), unidentified armed men attacked the post in Soumpi. 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. (Reporting by Adama Diarra; Writing by Joe Bavier; Editing by Mark Potter) </s> BAMAKO: Unidentified gunmen 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 on Saturday, two army officers said.The camp in the town of Soumpi, near the southern boundary of Mali's Timbuktu region, came under attack at around 6 a.m. (0600 GMT)."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 abandonned 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.Violence by militant groups, some with links to al Qaeda and Islamic State , is on the rise in West Africa 's arid Sahel region. In Mali, attacks have grown more frequent and spread further south towards the capital, Bamako. </s> Gunmen have attacked a Malian army base in a dawn raid, killing 11 soldiers and burning the camp in west-central Mali, the army and a local lawmaker say.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack. Central Mali has in the past few years been overrun by jihadists with links to al-Qaeda.

The unidentified armed assailants attacked the base in Guire district at 5am local time on Sunday after approaching in a convoy of 11 vehicles, local lawmaker Niame Keita said.

"They burnt the camp and took equipment," he said.

In a statement, the defence ministry confirmed the attack and said 11 soldiers were killed and more were wounded. Keita had earlier said 12 were reported killed.

In March, an al-Qaeda affiliate said it was behind a similar overnight attack on an army base in the central region of Mopti in which 16 soldiers were killed.

Escalating violence led to the resignation last week of the entire Malian government.

The authorities have come under fire for failing to beat back militants and disarm militias, after a massacre of 157 villagers by an ethnic vigilante group shocked the nation in March.

Both Mali and neighbouring Burkina Faso have been hit by the spike in hostilities fuelled by Islamist militants seeking to extend their influence over the Sahel, an arid region between Africa's northern Sahara desert and its southern savannas. </s> Unidentified gunmen on Saturday 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 on Saturday, two army officers said.

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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 6 a.m. (0600 GMT).

“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.

But despite the presence of a U.N. 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.

>> Video: FRANCE 24 follows special forces fighting Sahel militants

A landmine explosion blew up a civilian passenger vehicle near the central Mali village of Boni on Thursday, killing 26 people and wounding several others.

In a separate incident on the same day in the nearby town of Youwarou, the Malian military said its forces repelled an attack by suspected Islamist fighters.

Mali and its western neighbour Senegal plan to deploy 1,000 troops soon in an operation to pacify central Mali and contain jihadists who had previously been confined to its Saharan expanses in the north.

But analysts doubt they will be able to do so purely through military means. The Islamists exploit the grievances of Fulani cattle herders and their disputes with local farmers over access to grazing lands.

The government’s periodic crackdowns on suspected jihadists have therefore tended to target the Fulani, driving some of them into the arms of the armed groups.

(REUTERS) </s> At least 14 soldiers have been killed and 17 others sustained injuries in the central Malian city of Timbuktu after unknown gunmen attacked their camp, according to military sources.

Unidentified armed men attacked the camp in the town of Soumpi at around 6 a.m. (0600 GMT) on Saturday.

"The provisional toll is 14 dead, 17 wounded and two enemies killed. The search is still on for those missing," said one of the military sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Another military source confirmed the attack, putting the death toll at “around 15.”

"The soldiers abandoned their position. The enemy carried away material," the unnamed source said.

The attack came two days after 26 civilians were killed and several others injured when their vehicle was blown up by a mine in central Mali.

According to Malian army spokesman Colonel Diarran Kone, the vehicle had crossed the volatile border with neighboring Burkina Faso, where militants loyal to the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group are known to operate, when it ran over the mine.

In a separate incident, the Malian military said its forces had come under attack in the town of Youwarou near Mopti, once a popular tourist spot, but that they had repelled it.

"They neutralized seven terrorists and recovered equipment abandoned by the assailants," it said.

In the past three years, Takfiri forces, which had long been destabilizing the thinly populated desert north of Mali, have swept south into its wetter, more populated central regions, exploiting local conflicts to spread militancy.

Mali plunged into turmoil after President Amadou Toumani Toure was overthrown in a military coup on March 22, 2012.

The coup leaders said they staged the putsch in response to the government’s inability to contain the rebellion in the country’s north.

In January 2013, French soldiers were deployed to Mali under the pretext of putting an end to the crisis in the West African country, a former colony of France.

Unrest rages on across Mali despite the presence there of an 11,000-strong UN peacekeeping force, which has been stationed in the country since July 2013, as well as 1,000 French forces. </s> Unidentified gunmen have killed 16 soldiers in an attack on a military camp in western Niger, local residents and security sources said on Tuesday.

The raid occurred on Monday afternoon near the town of Inates, close to the border with Mali, where Islamist militants are active, and in the same region where an ambush by Islamic State's West African branch killed 28 soldiers in May.

Niger hosts the African Union summit from July 6-9 less than 200 km (125 miles) away in the capital Niamey. In the run-up, the European Union has been training Nigerien forces to respond to militant attacks.

Zakari Insa, the brother of one of the soldiers killed in Monday's attack, and Souley Marou, a local villager, both said 16 soldiers had died.

Two security sources confirmed the death toll, and one of them said about a dozen vehicles had been stolen. Jihadists have previously launched attacks using vehicles stolen in previous raids.

An army spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment. </s> NIAMEY — Unidentified gunmen have killed 16 soldiers in an attack on a military camp in western Niger, local residents and security sources said on Tuesday.

The raid occurred on Monday afternoon near the town of Inates, close to the border with Mali, where Islamist militants are active, and in the same region where an ambush by Islamic State’s West African branch killed 28 soldiers in May.

Niger hosts the African Union summit from July 6-9 less than 200 km (125 miles) away in the capital Niamey. In the run-up, the European Union has been training Nigerien forces to respond to militant attacks.

Zakari Insa, the brother of one of the soldiers killed in Monday’s attack, and Souley Marou, a local villager, both said 16 soldiers had died.

Two security sources confirmed the death toll, and one of them said about a dozen vehicles had been stolen. Jihadists have previously launched attacks using vehicles stolen in previous raids.

An army spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment.

Security has deteriorated in recent months across West Africa’s Sahel region, a semi-arid strip of land south of the Sahara. France and the United States have deployed thousands of troops to the region to counter jihadist groups linked to Islamic State and al Qaeda.

The attacks have also helped to stoke ethnic violence between rival farming and herding communities, particularly in Mali and Burkina Faso.

Militants loyal to Adnan Abu Waleed al-Sahrawi, the leader of Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, operate along Mali’s border with Burkina Faso and Niger.

In 2017, they killed four members of U.S. special forces and four Nigerien soldiers in an ambush near the village of Tongo Tongo. </s> BAMAKO, Mali – Authorities in northern Mali say at least 14 people are dead after suspected jihadists attacked an army camp.

The attack Saturday morning occurred in the Timbuktu region near the village of Soumpi.

An official from a nearby community who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals from jihadists confirms that 14 people were dead and 22 others wounded.

Malian army spokesman Col. Diarran Kone confirms the attack by armed men but says the military does not yet have a casualty toll.

Northern Mali was controlled by a number of jihadist groups until a French-led military operation five years ago. The extremists merely dispersed and have continued to regularly attack Malian military installations as well as U.N. peacekeepers.
Gunmen kill at least 14 soldiers at a military base in Soumpi, central Mali.