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7 Soldiers Killed in ‘Terror’ Attack in Mali | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Malian army soldiers patrol in the village of Bintagoungou near Goundam in central Mali. (AFP)


The Malian government announced on Monday that seven soldiers were killed and seven others wounded in a “terrorist attack” on a military position in the village of Almoustrat in the northwest.

Military sources told Agence France Presse that two people were killed and eight injured in clashes with gunmen in Almoustrat, which is 1,600 kilometers north of Gao.

A government statement said that the military post was attacked by an explosives-rigged vehicle, followed by rocket fire, at around 5:00 am on Sunday. It condemned the blast and asserted its determination to combat “all forms of terrorism.”

Reinforcements have been sent to the area.

On May 3, the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali said at least one person was killed and nine wounded in an attack on its camp near the airport in the northern city of Timbuktu.

A spokeswoman said that six rockets were fired at the camp. She said eight Liberians and one Swede were wounded, but the identity of the person killed was not yet known. Four of the wounded are in serious condition and are being evacuated to the capital, Bamako.

A day earlier, witnesses said at least 10 Malian soldiers were killed and nine others wounded in an ambush on a military convoy in central Mali.

A military spokesman said the convoy was hit between the towns of Diabaly and Nampala.

He declined to give a death toll, but a soldier in the region who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to journalists confirmed 10 dead.